Policy for System Transformation
Invited Session: Tuesday 11th June, 15:00-16:00
Theme
Society is currently facing a range of challenges, such as the unfolding climate crisis, increasing geopolitical tensions, and potentially disruptive technological changes driven by developments of artificial intelligence, which have the potential to disrupt and transform the way we inhabit this planet, the way our political and economic systems are organised, the way we work, are mobile or communicate. Addressing such challenges will require a new frame of “transformative” innovation policy, which builds on a broader and deeper understanding of system transformation and addresses, among other things, directionality, multi-system interactions, and the phasing-out/destabilization of existing systems while building new ones across geographical and political scales. In this session, we aim to highlight some of the main challenges this new policy frame implies, both for theory and policy practice, such as developing dynamic theories of change that address directionality, designing system-specific and often place-based interventions spanning different policy domains and jurisdictions, re-thinking and adapting the traditional innovation policy toolbox to the changing policy environment, governing in a more inclusive and reflexive way, and finding ways to monitor and evaluate policies – all in the midst of unfolding system change. We will hear from both researchers and policy practitioners at the forefront of TIP conceptualization, operationalization, and implementation.
Organizers
Anna Bergek
Full Professor (chair) of Innovation Systems and Technology Policy and Deputy Head of Department, Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology
Anna Bergek holds a PhD in Technology Management from Chalmers and a docentship in Industrial Organization from Linköping University. She is Full Professor in Innovation Systems and Technology Policy at Chalmers since 2016. She studies technology and innovation dynamics with a focus on innovation in mature industries and innovation systems. The overall aim of the research is to understand under what conditions mature companies and industries can remain innovative, how new technology can enter and diffuse in sectors that are in need of transformation, and how technology and innovation policy instruments should be designed and evaluated to facilitate innovation, system transformation, and sustainability transitions. In recent years, Anna has focused on improving conceptualizations of path dependency and self-reinforcing mechanisms, innovation diffusion (especially the role(s) of different types of actors), and transformative innovation policy (TIP). Regarding TIP, she has critically reviewed existing conceptualizations, highlighting the lack of practical guidance and identifying challenges for policymakers in implementing this new frame in agenda setting as well as evaluation of policy outcomes. Anna’s publications are found in journals such as Research Policy, Industrial and Corporate Change, Technovation and Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. She is one of the Receiving Editors of Research Policy.
Key research areas:
- Technology and industry dynamics
- Sociotechnical transitions
- Technology and innovation policy
Markus Grillitsch
Associate Professor of Economic Geography and Director of CIRCLE, Lund University
Markus Grillitsch holds a PhD in Socio-Economic Studies from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, with a specialisation in regional development. He is Director of CIRCLE – the Centre for Innovation Research at Lund University and Associate Professor of Economic Geography. Markus’s research is geared towards understanding industrial dynamics and transformation processes, how and with what consequences different types of actors engage in transformation processes, and what the role of policy at multiple levels is in promoting or hindering transformations. Markus has studied and assessed the transformative potential of innovation policies at the regional and national levels such as the Partnerships for Regional Innovation, which is a policy experiment to promote the long-term wellbeing for people and planet, as well as the strategic innovation programmes of the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova. He has also studied industrial change processes over 30 years in a comparative setting across European states generating insights about the role of human agency in change processes. Markus’s societal engagement is with policy actors at the regional, national, and international levels and his publications are in journals such as Research Policy, Progress in Human Geography, Economic Geography, Industry and Innovation, and Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions.
Key research areas:
- Industry dynamics
- Regional development
- Regional and national innovation policy
Harald Rohracher
Professor of Technology and Social Change and Deputy Head of Department, Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University
Harald Rohracher is Professor of Technology and Social Change at Linköping University since 2012. Before moving to Sweden, he was Director of the Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture (IFZ) in Graz, Austria, and Joseph A. Schumpeter Fellow at Harvard University 2009-10. He has a background in sociology as well as science, technology and innovation studies. In his research he has been interested in the entanglement of social and technical change, the analysis of emerging alternative socio-technical configurations, and the governance of socio-technical transformation. Another field of interest is transformative innovation policy, the evaluation of transformative change, the analysis of sustainability transitions as well as the role of users and civil society in innovation processes. Empirically, much of this work has been related to climate change, sustainable energy systems, digitalization, urban infrastructures as well as questions of justice and marginalization. Many of the research projects have elements of action research and transdisciplinary collaboration with non-academic actors in policy, administration and civil society, e.g. with municipalities or the SIP Viable Cities. He has published widely in journals such as Research Policy, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Environment & Planning A & E, and Science, Technology & Human Values.
Key research areas:
- Governance of socio-technical change
- Urban low-carbon transitions
- Transformative innovation policy
