Previous research has shown that the way we assess policies related to science, technology, and innovation has not kept pace with the latest ideas about innovation. An emerging approach called Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) focuses on addressing societal challenges, such as resource scarcity and climate change, and raises challenges for evaluating these policies.
In her doctoral thesis, Carolina Haddad investigates the characteristics of TIP evaluation, as well as how to assess the effects of TIP programmes and the challenges policymakers may face in translating researchers’ suggestions on how to approach TIP evaluation into practice.
What challenges do you focus on in your research?
In my research, I mostly focus on the challenges to assess the effects of Transformative Innovation Policy in terms of how they contribute to facilitating innovation and technical change in society. Another challenge relates to the translation of theory to practical policymaking.
How do you address the problem?
My first effort was to understand the implications of this emerging TIP in relation to previous approaches to science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy. Based on this understanding, I explored the literature on policy evaluation to investigate what approaches could provide insights for evaluating TIP. Based on this investigation, I proposed a framework that supports the assessment of the effects of TIP programmes. I then reflected on the key challenges evaluators may face when trying to translate the recommendations from the TIP literature into practice.
What are the main findings?
In the thesis, I first identify the distinguishing characteristics of TIP evaluation. Some key aspects include the assessment of the effects of TIP, as well as the involvement of different policy instruments, often beyond the STI realm, that are needed to address current societal challenges.
Additionally, I also suggest a way to assess the effects of TIP programmes, by proposing a stepwise framework that can support learning. Specifically, the framework proposes hypothesising what the programme is supposed to contribute in terms of its intended changes in society and technologies and then assessing the extent to which these changes have been realized and how specific policy interventions contributed to that.
Lastly, I identify key challenges for translating TIP theory into practice, by looking into the innovation policy evaluation practice in programmes funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency, Vinnova. These challenges involve, for example, assessing the additional benefits these programmes bring and the extent to which they contribute to achieving desired technological and societal changes.
What do you hope your research will lead to?
Currently, policymakers face great challenges in adapting old STI policy initiatives to address societal challenges. While innovation agencies, such as Vinnova, are trying to incorporate this emerging TIP approach in policymaking, my research also shows that current evaluation practice is lagging behind theoretical suggestions on what such evaluations should look like. I hope some of the insights provided in my doctoral thesis can be integrated into the practice of evaluation and support policymakers in taking further steps towards developing and evaluating policy initiatives that can better tackle societal challenges.
Read the thesis: Transformative innovation policy evaluation: characteristics, challenges, and lessons from practice
Public defence: 21 November 2023, see link above.
- Full Professor, Environmental Systems Analysis, Technology Management and Economics