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topics:innovation [2026/03/14 12:34] – ↷ Page moved from innovation to topics:innovation admintopics:innovation [2026/03/15 17:41] (current) – admin
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-[[technology|]];  +<WRAP box lightviolet catbadge>Governance, Innovation & Change</WRAP>
-[[markets|]];  +
-[[social_practice|]]+
  
 ====== Innovation ====== ====== Innovation ======
  
-==== Definitions of Innovation ====+<WRAP meta> 
 +lead-authors: Klaus Kubeczko 
 +contributors: [Names] 
 +reviewers: [Names] 
 +version: 1.1 
 +updated: March 2026 
 +sensitivity: low 
 +</WRAP>
  
-There is an ongoing discussion among innovation researcher about the need to go beyond the bias towards on firms, technology and markets, when defining innovation and to theorize about innovation in more general ways. +<WRAP intro> 
- +The concept of innovation in energy systems has evolved from a narrow focus on firms and market growth toward a broader view of innovation as a socio-technical process. In the context of smart grid transitions, it involves the intentional creation and institutionalisation of new technological, social, and organisational solutions. This transformation requires navigating established socio-technical regimes where social and institutional changes are as fundamental as the hardware itself. 
 +</WRAP>
  
-----+===== Why this matters =====
  
-=== Beyond the bias towards on firms, technology and markets [Frenken and Punt, 2023] ===+The historical view of innovation has shifted from a "vice" (pejorative and political) to a "virtue" used as an instrument for achieving social goals.((Godin, B. (2015). //Innovation Contested: The Idea of Innovation Over the Centuries.// Routledge.)) For smart grids, understanding innovation dynamics is critical because the "categorical imperative" often penalises developments that do not fit established cognitive and regulatory frameworks.((Frenken, K., & Punt, M. B. (2023). A New View on Radical Innovation. In //14th International Sustainability Transitions Conference (IST 2023).// SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/6cr5t)) Moving beyond pro-innovation bias allows policymakers to address the enabling factors for technological diffusion and the "exnovation" of unsustainable legacy structures that hinder system transformation.
  
-One of the present day leading researcher in the field, Koen Frenken, together with a colleague at Utrecht University, offers a valuable framework for **defining innovation and to theorize about innovation in more general ways**.+===== ISGAN definition =====
  
-It is a framework, which "helps to theoretically distinguish minor and major innovations taking place within existing categories (breakthrough innovation) from innovations that redefine categories (disruptive innovation) from innovations that lead to the established of new categories (radical innovation)."+Innovation is the multi-dimensional process of creating and institutionalising new technological, social, or organisational solutions—including products, processes, and services—that respond to grand societal challenges and create public value. In smart grid transitions, this encompasses "mission-oriented" initiatives that aim to reshape socio-technical regimes through niche development, the alignment of legal and infrastructure frameworks, and the pursuit of directional objectives.((Aigner, E., et al. (2022). //Kapitel IV: Technical Summary.// In APCC Special Report: Strukturen Für Ein Klimafreundliches Leben. Springer Spektrum. https://www.google.com/search?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66497-1))((OECD. (n.d.). //What is mission-oriented innovation?// Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI). https://oecd-opsi.org/work-areas/mission-oriented-innovation/)). Based on category theory, innovations are classified by how they interact with existing social and regulatory categories:((Frenken, K., & Punt, M. B. (2023). A New View on Radical Innovation. In //14th International Sustainability Transitions Conference (IST 2023).// SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/6cr5t))
  
-----+Innovation Category Framework (Frenken & Punt, 2023) 
 +^ Innovation Type ^ Description ^ 
 +| Incremental | Readily categorised and institutionalised in an existing category; valued for minor improvements. | 
 +| Breakthrough | Readily categorised in an existing category; valued for major improvements. | 
 +| Disruptive | Eventually institutionalised in an existing category by stretching its boundaries; makes practice more accessible. | 
 +| Radical | Institutionalised in a new category rather than an existing one; valued for its novelty. |
  
-   +===== Perspectives =====
-=== ‘RADICAL innovation’, ‘BREAKTHROUGH innovation’, and ‘DISRUPTIVE innovation’ [Frenken and Punt, 2023] ===+
  
 +The study of innovation focuses on how new solutions emerge in niches, navigate socio-technical regimes, and eventually influence the broader landscape.
  
-"The notion of radical innovation is an elusive one, and the terms ‘radical innovation’, ‘breakthrough innovation’, and ‘disruptive innovation’, and yet other labels, tend to be used interchangeably (Kovacs et al., 2019; Knüpling, 2022). We proposed a framework that may help to overcome this confusion by approaching radical innovation in a more general way using category theory. A particular useful theoretical notion is that of the 'categorical imperative' (Zuckerman, 1999, 2017) penalizing innovations that do not fit within established categories that people use to make sense of the world around them, and, in particular, to establish expectations and valuation of material artefacts and social practices."+<WRAP perspectives> 
 +==== Actors ====
  
-{{:4types_of_innovation_table_frenken_ist2023.jpg?1000|}}+Contemporary innovation is driven by a wide array of actors beyond traditional entrepreneurs and corporate R&D. These include "mission-oriented" actors—public and private entities collaborating to achieve societal value (e.g., grid stability, decarbonisation) rather than just market success. These actors must navigate the "categorical imperative," ensuring that new solutions are eventually accepted and valued within social practices and regulatory standards.((Frenken, K., & Punt, M. B. (2023). A New View on Radical Innovation. In //14th International Sustainability Transitions Conference (IST 2023).// SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/6cr5t))
  
 +==== Technology ====
  
-They define ....+Technological innovation in smart grids is increasingly "granular," characterized by the proliferation of small-scale, low-unit-cost technologies like solar PV and lithium batteries. Unlike large-scale infrastructure, granular technologies often exhibit steeper learning curves, faster diffusion, and provide more equitable access.((Grubler, A., et al. (2018). A low energy demand scenario for meeting the 1.5 °C target and sustainable development goals without negative emission technologies. //Nature Energy//, 3(6), 515–527. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0172-6)) This granularity enables rapid experimentation and performance improvements, though it requires innovation policies aligned with market demand to achieve system-wide transition.
  
-"**incremental innovation** +<WRAP case> 
- as an innovation that society readily categorizes and institutionalizes in an existing category and readily valuates the innovation positively for its minor improvements."+Granular vs. Large-scale Learning \ 
 +The "Low Energy Demand" (LED) scenario demonstrates that rapid innovation in granular end-use technologies can meet climate targets through widespread diffusion and rapid cost reductions. This approach reduces reliance on unproven large-scale supply-side technologies by leveraging the rapid learning rates of mass-produced components.((Grubler, A., et al. (2018). A low energy demand scenario for meeting the 1.5 °C target and sustainable development goals without negative emission technologies. //Nature Energy//, 3(6), 515–527. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0172-6)) 
 +</WRAP>
  
-"**radical innovation**  +==== Institutional ====
-as innovation that society categorizes and institutionalizes in a new category rather than within an existing category, and valuates the innovation positively for its novelty"+
  
-"**disruptive innovation**  +Institutions shape innovation through laws, standards, and governance. A core challenge is how society categorises and institutionalises novelty. Institutional innovation also includes exnovation: the deliberate, structured ending of unsustainable practices, technologies, or socio-technical regimes to make room for transformative solutions.((Kubeczko, K. (2022). //Transformative Readiness - Unpacking the technological and non-technological aspects of sustainability transitions.// Presented at the 13th International Sustainability Transitions Conference (IST 2022).))((Novy, A., et al. (2022). //Kapitel 2: Perspectives for analyzing and shaping structures for a climate-friendly life.// In APCC Special Report: Structures for a Climate-Friendly Life. Springer Spektrum. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66497-1)) 
-as an innovation that society eventually categorizes and institutionalizes in an existing category by stretching the boundaries of this category and eventually valuates the innovation positively for making an artefact or practice much more accessible"+</WRAP>
  
-"**breakthrough innovation** as an innovation that society readily categorizes and institutionalizes in an existing category and readily valuates the innovation positively for its major improvements" +===== Related topics =====
- +
- +
- +
- +
-[Source: Frenken, Koen, and Matthijs B Punt. ‘A New View on Radical Innovation’. In International Sustainability Transitions Conference 2023. Utrecht: SocArXiv, 2023. https://osf.io/6cr5t/download.] +
- +
-===== History of Innovation [Godin 2015] ===== +
- +
-"Today, innovation is spontaneously understood as technological innovation because of its contribution to economic "progress". Yet for 2,500 years, innovation had nothing to do with economics in a positive sense. Innovation was pejorative and political. It was a contested idea in philosophy, religion, politics and social affairs. Innovation only got de-contested in the last century. ... Innovation shifted from a vice to a virtue. Innovation became an instrument for achieving political and social goals."  +
- +
-[quote from https://books.google.at/books?id=I4wcBgAAQBAJ] [Source: Godin, Benoît. Innovation Contested: The Idea of Innovation Over the Centuries. Routledge, 2015.] +
- +
-===== Role of technology ===== +
- +
-The role of technology in innovation and innovation policy in the fundamental transitions in the production and **consumption systems (PCS)** and in [[provisioning_systems|provisioning systems (PVS)]], like energy systems, is changing. On the one side through the social dimension and increasing importance of elements of public services and basic human rights and on the other hand the role of digitalisation and increasingly cyber-physical character of socio-technical systems. +
- +
-  * Can technological development still be framed as the dominant driver of change? Or, are **social innovation, institutional innovation, product/service innovation, organisational and process innovations** all complementary for system transformation? +
-  * The question to be addressed  is, what are the **enabling factors to technological diffusion, generalisation, and system transition**? +
- +
-[Source: Kubeczko, K., 2022. Transformative Readiness - Unpacking the technological and non-technological aspects of sustainability transitions. Presented at the IST 2022.] +
- +
-===== Forms of innovation (OECD) ===== +
- +
-The OECD has implicitly long recognised that market ready innovation is not necessarily based on new technology, by extending the definition to include +
-   * products,   +
-   * services,  +
-   * processes,  +
-   * organisations and  +
-   * marketing. +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-===== Granular Innovation (IIASA) ===== +
- +
-Arnulf Grubler, [[https://iiasa.ac.at/staff/keywan-riahi|Keywan Riahi]] from IIASA and others describe technologies like PV and Lithium batteries as "granular", in that they are taken up fast through steeper lerning curves, then larger scale solutions. They include granularity as one of the drivers in their "Scenario Narrative of Low Energy Demand" (LED) +
- +
-"granularity, referring to the proliferation of small scale, low unit cost technologies enabling experimentation, rapid learning and equitable access" +
- +
-They claim "rapid innovation, cost reductions and performance improvements from widespread diffusion of granular end-use and lowcarbon supply technologies requires sustained innovation policies aligned to credible efforts to stimulate market demand" +
- +
-  +
-{{:innovation.png?600|}} +
- +
-[Source: Grubler, A. //et al.// A low energy demand scenario for meeting the 1.5 °C target and sustainable development goals without negative emission technologies. //Nat Energy// **3**, 515–527 (2018).] +
- +
-===== Socio-technical Innovation Perspective [Novy et al. 2022 / Aigner et al. 2022] ===== +
- +
-The innovation perspective includes theories that focus on the application, dissemination and effects of innovation. It is dedicated to new topics (e.g. climate change and digitization) and examines the role of **socio-technical innovations, i.e. technological and non-technological developments, towards a climate-friendly society** (Joly, 2017; Schot & Steinmueller, 2018). +
- +
-**Structures** in these approaches include, for example, laws, standards, infrastructure, governance structures, actor constellations (Edquist, 2011; Köhler et al., 2019), which are systematized along socio-technical regimes and landscape developments. The approaches primarily examine how innovations affect structures, but also how innovation systems enable innovations for sustainable development. Subsequently, the approaches also examine **how innovations affect social and economic practice and the associated environmental influences** (Avelino et al., 2017; Kivimaa et al., 2021; Köhler et al., 2019; Shove & Walker, 2014). The knowledge gained in this way serves to better understand the transition to climate-friendly living. The starting points of the theories in the innovation perspective are innovation theories and theories of technological change: Techno-economic paradigm, technological systems, radical and incremental innovation and also actor-network theory (Dosi et al., 1988; Freeman & Perez, 2000; Köhler et al ., 2019; Latour, 2019; Malerba & Orsenigo, 1995). They describe which actors develop innovations (entrepreneurship, applied research in large companies), how innovations prevail as new products, processes and services and often underline that "**creative destruction**" (Schumpeter, 1911; Smelser, 2005) **leads to structural changes** (especially of market structures dominated by monopolies). +
- +
-In connection with today's societal challenges, there has been a shift in scientific discourse: away from an almost exclusive emphasis on economic goals towards more trend-setting, directional objectives in the sense of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Daimer et al., 2012; Diercks et al., 2019 ). **Current innovation theories go beyond economic and technological issues**. They examine the role played by different actors, the extent to which social developments are important for innovations and, conversely, how innovations affect social and environmental aspects (Köhler et al., 2019). These theories can also be referred to as multilevel theories. They usually systematize structures along three levels (Geels & Kemp, 2007; Köhler et al., 2019): (1) **Socio-technical regimes** as the inner structures of the socio-technical systems of production and consumption, (2) **Landscape** as the structures in the economic, social and ecological environment and (3) **Niches**, within which new solutions can initially be developed experimentally without changing structural framework conditions. +
- +
-**Innovation has the potential** – intentionally or unintentionally – **to change price structures, market structures, infrastructures through to actor constellations, governance structures, organizational structures or entire socio-technical production and consumption systems**. This perspective thus includes approaches to technological, entrepreneurial, organizational, product, process, marketing and system innovation as well as social innovation, environmental innovation, sustainability innovation and exnovation. Theories of exnovation (Arnold et al., 2015) are a special case because they focus less on creating something new and more on ending unsustainable solutions. +
- +
-**Shaping,** in the context of the innovation perspective, means **consciously bringing about change through innovations** (Godin, 2015). It is about new solutions that lead to a changed social or economic practice of everyday actions. Shaping means **changing the structural environment** (e.g. regional planning, climate policy measures, etc.) or creating and supporting the development of socio-technical niches. It is argued that socio-technical or social innovations, mental models (such as visions of the future) (Grin et al., 2011; Schot & Steinmueller, 2018), legal frameworks and infrastructures (Bolton & Foxon, 2015), actor networks (Latour, 2019 ) and governance processes (Köhler et al., 2019) can be shaped. +
- +
-[Source (own translation): A. Novy //et al.//, “Kapitel 2: Perspektiven zur Analyse und Gestaltung von Strukturen für ein klimafreundliches Leben.,” in //APCC Special Report: Strukturen für ein klimafreundliches Leben (APCC SR Climate Friedly Living) [Görg, C., V.Madner, A. Muhar, A. Novy, A. Posch, K. Steininger und E. Aigner (Hrsg.)].//, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum, 2022. [Online]. Available: [[https://ssrn.com/abstract=42768462]] +
- +
-alternative English source: E. Aigner //et al.//, ‘**Kapitel IV: Technical Summary’**. In APCC Special Report: Strukturen Für Ein Klimafreundliches Leben (APCC SR Climate Friedly Living) [Görg, C., V. Madner, A. Muhar, A. Novy, A. Posch, K. Steininger Und E. Aigner (Hrsg.)]. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum, 2022. [[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4277689]].] +
- +
-===== What is mission-oriented innovation? [OECD] ===== +
- +
-"A mission-oriented innovation includes any new or improved technological, social and organisational solution (product, process or service) that aims to respond to one or several of the grand societal challenges (missions) and create public value to society (e.g., climate mitigation, clean oceans, sustainable economic growth and well-being etc.)." +
- +
-[[https://oecd-opsi.org/work-areas/mission-oriented-innovation/]] +
- +
- +
- +
-~~DISCUSSION|Discussion Section - PAGE OWNER: Klaus Kubeczko~~+
  
 +{{tag>Digitalisation Exnovation Mission-oriented-Policy technology markets social_practice}}