Exploring the normative turn in regional innovation policy: responsibility and the quest for public value

Abstract

The perceived ineffectiveness of traditional innovation policies in solving societal challenges such as poverty, ageing, climate change as well as problems of regional economic restructuring has motivated a recent 'normative turn' in innovation policy. This has shifted the debate on the rationales for intervention from market and system failures to accommodate more transformative views but also other approaches rooted in the notion of public value and has led innovation scholars to question not just the how and how much of innovation but also key issues of directionality, legitimacy and responsibility. By engaging the processes through which actors 'know, investigate and perform innovation', we argue that the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) offers a potentially useful lens for re-casting our understanding of innovationrelated decision making. We apply RRI to assessing the opportunities and challenges of public procurement as an instrument of challengeoriented and transformative innovation policy. More specifically, we look at how local authorities in the UK are using the Social Value Act to define priorities and articulate demand around social, environmental and community needs as well as coordinate different processes and actors, policy levers and processes. ARTICLE HISTORY

Expanding the field of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) – from responsible research to responsible innovation

“…von Schomberg (2008) uses the term collective responsibility to frame this concept, which is a broader understanding of the actors responsible for ensuring the positive impacts of research and innovation. This feature suggests that RRI should incorporate issues of directionality and normativity, including societal values fostered by research and innovation (Uyarra et al, 2019). A general fear is that research policy is too heavily oriented towards excellence, while innovation policy is focused exclusively on competitiveness.…”

“…Relatedly, the recent RRI literature contributes insight into research and innovation stewardship, including how these can become more inclusive and sustainable. RRI offers forward-looking approaches and frameworks for reflecting on societal impacts, with a focus on participatory research and innovation methods (Owen, Macnaghten, & Stilgoe, 2012;Uyarra, Ribeiro, & Dale-Clough, 2019).…”

Green reorientation of clusters and the role of policy: ‘the normative’ and ‘the neutral’ route

“…Moreover, the empirical investigation shows that green transformations can be governed quite directly through such public procurement. Thus, more than public procurement having a direct environmental effect in that it reduces emissions, the investigation has also shown that it is good innovation policy (Uyarra et al, 2019). The lesson from Ampere shows, for example, that setting 'technology neutral' demands will allow for industries to come up with the best solutions to societal problems (e.g.…”

Smart specialisation as place-based policy. Lessons learnt?

“…In relation to this, in a forthcoming article (Dale-Clough et al, 2019) we argue that more attention should be given to the role of demand in the creation of public value and achieving transformative change in regions, understood not just as diversifying an economy's industrial structure but also as transforming it in socially desirable directions. Smart specialisation lacks a normative focus, being more concerned with the economic competitiveness of places.…”