Twenty Challenges for Innovation Studies

Abstract

With the field of innovation studies now half a century old, the occasion has been marked by several studies looking back to identify the main advances made over its lifetime. Starting from a list of 20 advances over the field's history, this discussion paper sets out 20 challenges for coming decades. At a conference in 1900, David Hilbert put forward a list of 23 unsolved mathematical problems that were to have a profound influence on the work of mathematicians during the 20 th Century. The intention here is to prompt a debate within the innovation studies community on what are, or should be, the key challenges for us to take up, and more generally on what sort of field we aspire to be. It is argued that the empirical focus of our studies has not kept pace with the fast changing world and economy, especially the shift from manufacturing to services and the growing need for sustainability. Moreover, the very way we conceptualise, define, operationalise and analyse 'innovation' seems rooted in the past, leaving us less able to grapple with other less visible or 'dark' forms of innovation.Keywords: innovation studies; science policy; challenges; achievements; dark innovation Acknowledgements A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Lundvall symposium held at Aalborg University in February 2012. A short version (based on 15 challenges rather than 20) is being published, along with other contributions to that event, in a book on The Future of Innovation Studies (Fagerberg et al., 2013).

Towards Smart Specialisation 2.0. Main Challenges When Updating Strategies

“…In their article, Dosso et al ( 2018 ), basing their analysis in works like those of the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research ( 2013 ), Love and Roper ( 2015 ) and Martin ( 2016a ), they present the implications of transferring innovation studies and analyses into policy-making, stating that there are, of course, some challenges to be considered. However, evidence-based policy should not only include empirical results—otherwise an algorithm, through artificial intelligence, would design optimal strategies—but it must be composed by the human side of each policy, and it must be understood as the use of actual information obtained through research integrated into more subjective concepts like experience or judgement (Sackett et al, 1996 ).…”

The role of innovation in advancing understanding of hydrological processes

“…Contemporary definitions have evolved this fundamental meaning, for instance Malerba (2000), to acknowledge that many innovations consist of new combinations of existing knowledge, involve new organizational forms, or the opening of new markets. Innovation can also be radical or incremental (Martin, 2016; Rossi, 2002). The concept of innovation is no longer seen as the simple application of codified knowledge, but as a process of creation of new, often tacit, knowledge (Rossi, 2002), including social change (Murray, Caulier‐Grice, & Mulgan, 2010) and invisible innovation (Martin, 2016).…”

“…Innovation can also be radical or incremental (Martin, 2016; Rossi, 2002). The concept of innovation is no longer seen as the simple application of codified knowledge, but as a process of creation of new, often tacit, knowledge (Rossi, 2002), including social change (Murray, Caulier‐Grice, & Mulgan, 2010) and invisible innovation (Martin, 2016).…”

Innovation in tourism

“…In the first decade of tourism innovation research, covered by Hjalager’s (2010) review, the reference to piecemeal case studies has been possibly motivated by the need of identifying, inductively as well as deductively, the distinguishing features of a still unexplored phenomenon. For similar reasons, the use of in-depth qualitative methodologies has also been crucial for the take-off of innovation studies in general (Martin, 2016). On the other hand, while consolidating its theoretical premises, the innovation literature has also progressively moved towards a systematic quantification of the innovation processes.…”