1. Research and Innovation Futures
- Author
-
Weber, K. Matthias, Amanatidou, Effie, Erdmann, Lorenz, Nieminen, Mika, Weber, K. Matthias, Amanatidou, Effie, Erdmann, Lorenz, and Nieminen, Mika
- Subjects
- Knowledge management, Technological innovations, Research, Technological forecasting
- Abstract
The issue of knowledge dynamics and knowledge production in society has concerned social scientists for almost 50 years. This eBook aims to explore new ways of doing and organising knowledge creation through research and innovation. Scholars have studied the social consequences of the'big science'model since the 1960s, a debate which gained new momentum in the 1990s, when a number of new concepts were developed to capture the new relationship between science and society in the shaping of the dynamics of knowledge production, including the status of different forms of knowledge production and their relation to the context of application. Similar developments could be observed with regard to innovation, where system concepts stressed the importance of collaboration between science, industry and society for creating novel solutions. More recently, the role of users and competitors in innovation has attracted much attention, giving rise to concepts such as open innovation, collective experimentation, or innovation communities. These academic debates were actually preceded by changes in the practices of knowledge production in society. In parallel, participatory models of decision-making about new knowledge have become more prominent in many countries, aiming to bring considerations of societal relevance more prominently to the fore, alongside with scientific validity, up to the point of regarding science as a commodity. Today, the fast-moving pace of change in information and communication technologies and the different platforming approaches, not least for purposes of enhancing participation of a broader range of stakeholders in research and innovation, shows that there is an obvious need to prepare for the future. This eBook focuses on the ways research and innovation might be done and organised in the future. It is inspired by the EU-funded project RIF (Research and Innovation Futures 30: From explorative to transformative scenarios). The main ambition of the RIF project has been to explore whether the emerging developments in research and innovation practices and the tensions resulting from these, can be absorbed within the existing institutional regime of knowledge production or whether a more fundamental transformation of our institutional set-up will be needed. Authors explore topics such as on emerging trends and their implications under the headline of Science 2.0, emerging developments in innovation and resulting critical issues for the future, the systematization of this understanding of alternative futures into different scenarios, the strategic options actors are confronted with in face of these scenarios, the policy issues arising from these developments, and selected international perspectives on future changes in research and innovation with a particular focus on Russia and Finland.
- Published
- 2016