National innovation system

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The National Innovation System (also NIS, National System of Innovation) is the flow of technology and information among people, enterprises and institutions which is key to the innovative process on the national level. According to innovation system theory, innovation and technology development are results of a complex set of relationships among actors in the system, which includes enterprises, universities and government research institutes.

Contents

Origins of term

The term National System of Innovation originated when Christopher Freeman and Bengt-Åke Lundvall worked together in the late 1980s. Freeman's research drew heavily on political economy of Friedrich List and his historical account of the rise of Japan as an economic superpower. Lundvall's work explored the important social interactions between suppliers and customers and their role in encouraging innovation in Denmark. Apart from a general definition, as above, there is no canonical definition of national innovation systems. A few dominant definitions are listed below (quoted in an OECD publication) [1] which overlap quite a bit:

A national system of innovation has been defined as follows:

A country’s innovative performance largely depends on how these actors relate to each other as elements of a collective system of knowledge creation and use as well as the technologies they use. For example, public research institutes, academia and industry serve as research producers carrying out research and development (R&D) activities. On the other hand, governments either central or regional play the role of coordinator among research producers in terms of their policy instruments, visions and perspectives for the future. Furthermore, in order to promote innovation the different innovative actors must have strong links with each other based on a strong level of trust and governments should promote and activate trust among the different innovation actors. [7] The links can take the form of joint research, personnel exchanges, crosspatenting, and purchase of equipment. [1] Finally, NSI are shaped by distinct socio-cultural qualities of national communities. Therefore, there are national trajectories of innovativeness, technology orientation and learning, which results in each nation, either highly developed or not, having some kind of NSI, no matter if working well or not. [8] Furthermore, the success factors of NSI have been seen by many scholars in the creation of supportive institutions and organizations (with a key role of education) and collaboration links Bridging Scales in Innovation Policies throughout the various elements that constitute a NSI. Examples include public R&D and companies, as well as common objectives and innovative cultures of agents, altogether entailing self/reinforcing progress and synergies. Differences in the structures and strategies of NSI among various economically successful countries indicate, however, that there is no universal best practise recipe. [8]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (1997). National innovation systems (PDF). Paris. OCLC   901313898.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ↑ Freeman, C. (1995). "The 'National System of Innovation' in historical perspective". Cambridge Journal of Economics : 5–24. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035309. ISSN   1464-3545.
  3. ↑ Lundvall, Bengt-Åke (2010). National systems of innovation : toward a theory of innovation and interactive learning. London: Anthem. ISBN   978-1-84331-890-3. OCLC   742616994.
  4. ↑ Nelson, Richard R., ed. (1993). National innovation systems : a comparative analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195076172. OCLC   802844490.
  5. ↑ Patel, Parimal (1994). "The nature and economic importance of national innovations systems". STI Review. STI review. - Paris : OECD, ISSN 1010-5247, ZDB-ID 284967-7. - 1994, p. 9-32. Paris: 9–32. ISSN   1010-5247.
  6. ↑ Metcalfe, S. (1995). "The Economic Foundations of Technology Policy: Equilibrium and Evolutionary Perspectives". Handbook of the economics of innovations and technological change. Stoneman, Paul. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. ISBN   9780631177739. OCLC   31170120.
  7. ↑ Chung, S (2002). "Building a national innovation system through regional innovation systems". Technovation. 22 (8): 485–491. doi:10.1016/s0166-4972(01)00035-9. ISSN   0166-4972.
  8. 1 2 Fromhold-Eisebith, Martina (2007). "Bridging Scales in Innovation Policies: How to Link Regional, National and International Innovation Systems". European Planning Studies. 15 (2): 217–233. doi:10.1080/09654310601078754. ISSN   0965-4313. S2CID   154902491.

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