Challenges for Science and Innovation Policy

Faced with difficult economic and social times, science and innovation are caught between the blades of supply and demand: while the demand for solutions to socio-economic challenges has never been greater, highly stressed public finances find it increasingly difficult to provide the investment necessary for them to deliver. Against this background it is ever more important that both the research system and the innovation system, as well as the links between them, should operate with the greatest possible effectiveness. Each faces a series of challenges. For the research system to deliver on the agenda of impact requires hard consideration of how scarce resources should be deployed across institutions, fields and over time. Here at least the boundaries are well understood but for the innovation system this is not the case. We need a better understanding of how the full gamut of public policies impacts upon innovation and what forms of governance are needed to bring them to bear. We also need a new stress on the systemic character which means a shift away from a focus on institutions and towards an engagement with the mobility or flows which represent the dynamic character of an effective innovation ecosystem. In this chapter, these dimensions of research and innovation systems are explored and conclusions are drawn about future needs and directions.