The main question that guides this paper is how governments are focusing (and must focus) on competence building (education and training) when designing and implementing innovation policies. With this approach, the paper aims at filling the gap between the existing literature on competences on...

Institutions (including regulations) are constitutive elements of innovation systems, and therefore cornerstones of innovation policy. Focusing on (soft and hard) regulation, the paper identifies the most salient regulatory areas from the perspective of the innovation system. When asking about...

The purpose of this article is to discuss the different types of instruments of innovation policy, to examine how governments and public agencies in different countries and different times have used these instruments differently, to explore the political nature of instrument choice and design...

In 2006 the European Commission introduced the concept of "Pre-Commercial Procurement" as an instrument to promote innovation and to mitigate grand challenges. One of the main motivations for the support of Pre-Commercial Procurement schemes was to use public needs as a driver for innovation....

Who produces scientific and technical knowledge these days? What type of knowledge is being produced and for what purposes? Why are firms and governments funding research and development? This chapter studies the role of knowledge production (especially R&D activities) in the innovation process...

The concept of a holistic innovation policy is defined in this article, with discussions of what it is, why it is relevant, and how it can be implemented to enhance product innovation. It is shown that the innovation systems approach has diffused rapidly during the latest decades and has...

The concept of a holistic innovation policy is defined in this paper, and it is discussed what it is, why it is relevant and how it can be implemented. One of the main conclusions is that the innovation policies in European countries are still linear (and not holistic), in spite of the fact that...

The vast literature of systems of innovation is rich in theoretical and empirical studies about the complexity and institutionally-embedded processes of interaction and learning. So far, however, this literature has not studied in a comprehensive manner the nature and types of strategic choices...

‘Activities’ in innovation systems are the determinants of the development and diffusion of innovations. Examples are R&D, provision of organizations and institutions, financing of innovations, incubation, etc. These activities are partly performed by private organizations and partly by...

This chapter is structured as follows. In the introductory section, the objectives of the “Small Country Innovation Systems” book project are outlined and the methodological and theoretical foundations of the book are addressed. This is followed by an extended conceptual and theoretical...