Governing the Innovation of Emerging Technologies - Policy Coordination in Innovation Systems
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Science, Tech, Eng and Public Policy
Abstract
Most efforts to mitigate the human impact on the environment stumble across one fundamental problem: the trade-off between intermediate gains and long-term benefits. This comes to light particularly concerning energy - the lifeblood of modern economies. The prevalent global economic and social aspirations increase the demand for reliable energy, yet also intensify the risk of irreversible changes to climate, resources, and landscapes. Hence, the challenge to achieve sustainability without vitiating immediate economic, social, and political goals is central to effective policy making in this field. However, environmental and energy policies alone cannot balance this trade-off, because such policies struggle to provide the benefit of immediate gains and therefore cannot incentivise a re-thinking of (economic) processes. Instead, the key lies in enabling and promoting the innovation of sustainable energy technologies that benefit both the immediate economic goals and the environment - lessening (or eliminating) negative externalities.
For this purpose this project aims to find, analyse, interpret, evaluate, and propose successful strategies of innovation policies of sustainable energy technologies, focusing on the particular challenges that emerging market economies face in this field.
Sustainable innovation policy / energy policy
For this purpose this project aims to find, analyse, interpret, evaluate, and propose successful strategies of innovation policies of sustainable energy technologies, focusing on the particular challenges that emerging market economies face in this field.
Sustainable innovation policy / energy policy
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Irina Brass (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Andreas Kopp (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509577/1 | 30/09/2016 | 24/03/2022 | |||
| 1783649 | Studentship | EP/N509577/1 | 30/09/2016 | 30/12/2020 | Andreas Kopp |
| Description | Note, that the focus of this research project has shifted from exclusively looking at energy technologies to clean-tech solutions in general. Particularly, the study focuses on multi-technology challenges, i.e. technological solutions that comprise multiple different sub-technologies, such as smart energy grids or connected autonomous vehicles. The project focuses on the intersection of clean-tech and artificial intelligence, two fields of utmost relevance and significance to the engineering community and the general economic development today and in the future. The first stage investigated the development of autonomous vehicles as a solution of sustainable mobility in Singapore, Estonia, and Sweden - three countries where this technology features prominently and where engineers contribute significantly to the global advancement of self-driving cars. These three cases are used as best practice examples, from which other countries can learn. So far, the still ongoing study discovered the political, economic, and administrative mechanisms underlying innovation and engineering networks, the relationships of stakeholders towards each other, and ways in which their interaction can be optimised through effective coordination. For this purpose, it empirically bridges technological insights and input from engineers, natural scientists, and developers with information held by policymakers and administrators, bridging the two realms. Theoretically, this connects the literatures and insights from the innovation studies and public administration scholarship. Despite the varying contexts (Sweden, Estonia, and Singapore) which this study has investigated so far, the preliminary findings suggest a similarity when it comes to the mechanisms facilitating the innovation of multi-technology challenges. They include: - Effective innovation policy is coordinated through units that consist of representatives of both the political and non-political realm. Specifically, this includes technology experts, engineers, and practitioners in the respective technological field. Through this process, policymakers and implementers in governmental agencies learn from the 'real world' and can make regulation and policy fit to the desired outcomes. Vice versa, engineers and technology experts can understand the administrative and political processes to which their technical work is subjected to (e.g. for permits, legalising certain technologies, getting support for diffusion or market entry, etc.). Hence, engineers and developers play a crucial role when shaping policy. - Multi-technology challenges require a different policy approach than single and simple technologies. The engineering of such technological solution taps into various policy arenas, which means that the system in its entirety needs to be taken into account when drafting new regulation, in order to prevent mutually restricting or interfering policy designs. Again, taking into account the technical, engineering perspective becomes crucial. - Engineers and private sector firms (including academic and R&D institutions) can be stirred to collaborate on multi-technology challenges through mission-driven innovation policy that is geared towards solving general societal problems, such as sustainable transport or climate change. Making engineers and practitioners aware of these challenges and their significance to the socio-economic system eases the incorportion of their work into policy related and administrative processes Most notably is a different approach to policy coordination in the respective innovation system, however. Whereas Singapore designs and implementes policies through a hierarchical structure, Estonia follows a more market-based approach, whereas Sweden features a network-oriented mode. This has implications on the effeciveness of the different policy mechanisms and their impact in research, development, and diffusion of technologies, on funding arrangements for researchers at universities and also for developments within the private sector, and also for the market formation for the technology later on. A thorough network analysis has confirmed these findings, as specific and unique network shapes have been found. This can be used to further direct policies in a more targeted manner to specifically support science and engineering of technological innovations where it is most needed and best suited to fulfill socially beneficial purposes. Mind that this research project is still ongoing. Hence, future findings might complement or replace the findings concluded so far. |
| Exploitation Route | The insights generated from this study will be of use primarily to policymakers in the field of innovation policy and industrial strategy. The insights will help to frame and shape innovation policy and industrial strategy in the future, learning from best practice examples when it comes to multi-technology challenges in the realms of clean-tech and AI. Academically, the study contributes to the development of the innovation studies literature, particularly in the very little explored field of multi-technology challenges. On the one hand, it is of use to social scientists who research systems and engineering practices when technologies are developed. On the other hand, the insights are valuable to engineers and scientists, both in academia and in practice, involved in the innovation of multi-technology challenges, as it helps them to identify other stakeholders in the innovation network and ways to cooperate with them, making the engineering and innovation processes more effective and targeted to societal problems. More precise findings that can be used by others to further develop this research area can be concluded when the project is finished. Since it is still ongoing, further developments might shape and change the impact on policy, technology, and research in the future. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Energy Environment Financial Services and Management Consultancy Government Democracy and Justice Transport |