Theorizing transformative innovations: the role of agency in real critical junctures

Abstract

According to Schwab (2015), the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is already underway. It was triggered by the fusion of the new technologies blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds, that generates transformation not only of production and management but also of governance. New forms of collaboration will have to be developed to make use of the opportunities created by the fusion of new technologies across the economic and social spheres. Governments and regulatory agencies need to collaborate closely with business and civil society. The governance required is the one preserving the interest of the consumers and the public at large while continuing to support innovation and technological development. We would like to argue that a move from producer-orientated innovation systems to systems of transformative innovation plays a crucial role in the 4IR involving the development of future alternatives. A shift towards transformative innovation systems requires innovation policy to take into account the interests of a larger number of stakeholders than before and to engage users and end-consumers in policy formation processes. Moreover, climate change, demographic shift and technological development are posing a threat to socio-economic and environmental sustainability such that there is a need for new ways of determining (broadening the scope of) the objectives of innovation and technical change. Hence, innovation policy will need to be mission-orientated (Mazzucato 2018), giving direction to economic growth and innovation in order to tackle societal and technological challenges. It is a huge challenge to build successful collaboration around systems of transformative innovation as it involves a much larger number of actors than in the producer-orientated innovation system. At the same time digital technology has made it easier to integrate