Abstract
ABSTRACTThe perceived ineffectiveness of traditional innovation policies in solving societal challenges such as poverty, ageing, climate change as well as problems of regional economic restructuring has motivated a recent ‘normative turn’ in innovation policy. This has shifted the debate on the rationales for intervention from market and system failures to accommodate more transformative views but also other approaches rooted in the notion of public value and has led innovation scholars to question not just the how and how much of innovation but also key issues of directionality, legitimacy and responsibility. By engaging the processes through which actors ‘know, investigate and perform innovation’, we argue that the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) offers a potentially useful lens for re-casting our understanding of innovation-related decision making. We apply RRI to assessing the opportunities and challenges of public procurement as an instrument of challenge-oriented and transformative innovation policy. More specifically, we look at how local authorities in the UK are using the Social Value Act to define priorities and articulate demand around social, environmental and community needs as well as coordinate different processes and actors, policy levers and processes.
Highlights
[W]e want to see public services delivered with values at their heart, where the wider social benefits matter and are recognised. [...] If we are to build a fairer society, in which the public has greater trust in businesses to make a profit and to play a responsible role in society, we must use the power of the public sector to lead the way
Regional innovation policy scholars have reacted and argued for greater focus in scholarly debates on the direction of innovation and change in order to address problems of economic restructuring and territorial disparities (Tödtling & Trippl, 2018). This backdrop requires regional innovation scholars to redefine the function of the public sector away from market-based rationales and towards an investment logic that understands economic development as ‘the expansion of capacities that contribute to the advancement of society’ (Feldman, Hadjimichael, Lanahan, & Kemeny, 2016, p. 8). Intersecting these debates in innovation policy scholarship is the emergence of responsible research and innovation (RRI) as a popular concept for exploring the relationship between science, technology, innovation and society (Ribeiro, Smith, & Millar, 2017)
Using RRI as ‘critical’ lens, we propose a series of elements that we believe position public procurement of innovation as a form of transformative place-based innovation policy
Summary
[W]e want to see public services delivered with values at their heart, where the wider social benefits matter and are recognised. [...] If we are to build a fairer society, in which the public has greater trust in businesses to make a profit and to play a responsible role in society, we must use the power of the public sector to lead the way. Motivated by the new legislation, local governments across the UK have worked towards crafting their own social value policies, combining and embedding them into their development strategies (see Cabinet Office, 2015) This activity is being replicated across Europe as the European Commission encourages procurement policies aimed at creating a more innovative, green and socially-inclusive economy.. Regional innovation policy scholars have reacted and argued for greater focus in scholarly debates on the direction of innovation and change in order to address problems of economic restructuring and territorial disparities (Tödtling & Trippl, 2018) This backdrop requires regional innovation scholars to redefine the function of the public sector away from market-based rationales and towards an investment logic that understands economic development as ‘the expansion of capacities that contribute to the advancement of society’ We further refine understanding of the opportunities and challenges of using public procurement as a policy instrument to argue that a bolder normative framework for the analysis of innovation policy in the context of societal ‘grand challenges’ or ‘mission-oriented innovation policy’ must a) have a focus on creating public value; b) investigate how societal problems are framed; and c) assess the capabilities of different societal groups to engage in transformational change
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