Strategic innovation programs build capacity for transformation

The study shows that strategic innovation programs represent important funding in both the short and long term. They provide direct benefits for participating actors, but even more importantly, they strengthen capabilities and capacity in the innovation system over time. This involves, for example, creating long-term collaborations across sector boundaries, strengthening networks between actors and developing structures that make innovation possible to implement and scale up.

Innovation programs are described as a tool for enabling and preparing for system change. They create conditions and increase the capacity of the innovation system, rather than driving and realizing transformation.

Three ways to organize innovation to create value

According to the analysis, the emphasis on what creates value varies between programs based on how the programs are organized, their actor constellations, and which parts of the innovation process are in focus. Depending on their focus, they create value in different ways, and should not be interpreted as a way of evaluating what is better or worse.

• Industrially oriented programme more often create value through technology development, skills provision and strengthened competitiveness in established value chains
• System-oriented programme create value through coordination, common working methods and development of implementation conditions in complex social systems.
• Mission-oriented programme create value linked to broader transformation processes and long-term societal goals

Collaboration is key – but not always visible

The programs are characterized by broad collaboration between business, academia and the public sector. Technology and science dominate the knowledge base. Knowledge about how collaboration is organized and how innovation works in practice is less visible, even though it is crucial for innovation.

According to the study, this can create an imbalance in that experience-based knowledge risks being undervalued and important lessons learned about implementation and recipient capacity in society are not fully utilized.

Strategic innovation programs as tools for innovation

• Strategic innovation programs have the ability to combine concrete benefits for participating actors with strengthened capacity in the innovation system over time.
• Knowledge about how collaboration is organized and how innovation works in practice needs to be made more visible.
  Collaboration and coordination are as important funding as in technical development
• Strategic innovation programs are described as a tool to enable and prepare for system change, rather than to drive and realize transformation
• Value creation does not arise solely in individual project, but in the interaction between actors and in the systems that enable lasting innovation and transformation

Take part in the webcast seminar on the meta-study of the evaluations of the 17 strategic innovation programs - June 2 at 14-15.