Networks for Science-Informed Innovation in the Arctic: Insights on the Structure and Evolution of a Canadian Research Network

Abstract

In remote peripheral regions like the Arctic, research networks have been identified as an important mechanism for nurturing science-informed innovation. Given that relatively little is known about the network structures that support Arctic innovation processes, we employ social network analysis techniques to examine the structural organization and evolution of ArcticNet, a large Canadian Arctic scientific research network over a 13-year period (2004 – 17). ArcticNet funded 152 multidisciplinary research teams, connecting multiple types of science-based innovation actors, not including students (301 organizations and 1659 individuals). The research network grew without reaching saturation (increasing size, decreasing density), suggesting that ArcticNet was successful in recruiting new actors over the 13-year period. ArcticNet was centralized around non-local, public-sector actors (mainly Canadian academics). The emergence of collaborations across several boundaries (sectoral, geographic, thematic) suggests that non-local Canadian academic actors played an important boundary-spanning role, particularly in the early stages of the network. Participation by local northern actors doubled from Phase 1 to Phase 4, and with time, local northern actors had an increasing propensity for carrying out boundary-spanning roles and addressing structural holes. This study presents new insights into the networked nature of Arctic scientific research with potential implications for future research and innovation policy.

Northern Research Policy Contributions to Canadian Arctic Sustainability

“…Governance and responsibility over research in the North are spread amongst territorial and provincial governments, Inuit, First Nations, and Métis organizations and governments, federal agencies, academic institutes, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. All these different actors can play roles in setting policy, providing guidance on how research should be done, distributing funding, and/or conducting research [2, 4,6,16,19]. Government, academic, non-profit, and consultant research have all made considerable contributions to northern scholarship.…”

“…Over the past sixty years, the Canadian North has been the focus of several national and international scientific programs and numerous government science strategies. Calls for a more coordinated response across northern jurisdictions are motivated by the impacts of resource development, sovereignty issues, and more recently, the impacts of increasingly rapid environmental changes [15][16][17][18][19]. Since the 1970s, efforts have been made by academia to articulate the need for a single unifying northern science policy that guides investments in northern research [15,16,19].…”

“…Calls for a more coordinated response across northern jurisdictions are motivated by the impacts of resource development, sovereignty issues, and more recently, the impacts of increasingly rapid environmental changes [15][16][17][18][19]. Since the 1970s, efforts have been made by academia to articulate the need for a single unifying northern science policy that guides investments in northern research [15,16,19]. Serious gaps in Canadian Arctic research were identified in the 1990s [20], and from that realization, investments were made, including the International Polar Year and a northern research chair program.…”