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CHAPTER LOW CARBON
1 TECHNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION POLICY
1.1 Introduction 3.1
Innovation nowadays is understood as a broad and complex
phenomenon involving many interactive dynamic processes occurring
in a range of contexts and landscapes. The Oslo Manual defines
innovation as encompassing either introduction of new or significantly
improved goods and services (product innovation), or introduction of
production or delivery method that is new or significantly improved
(process innovation), implementation of a new marketing method
(marketing innovation), and implementation of a new organizational
method in business practices, workplace organization or external
relations (organizational innovation) (OECD/Eurostat 2005).
A key feature of innovation that emerges from existing analysis
is that it does not follow a linear path that begins with research,
moves through the processes of development, design, engineering,
production, and ends with the successful introduction of new
products and processes into the market, rather, it is an interactive (and
cumulative) process that involves continuous feedback loops between
the different stages. A second feature is that innovation is essentially
the result of an interactive process between many actors, including
companies, universities, and research institutes.
It is now well-accepted that economic performance is not just a
matter of access to natural resources and large markets, or even having
a skilled (and much less cheap) labour force; innovation, knowledge
creation, and the diffusion of new knowledge are today the key
vehicles for enterprises, industries, regions, and countries for pursuing
economic growth, and thus, essential components for achieving
sustained competitive advantages in the economy. A country’s
performance is measured today by the degree of innovativeness of
its enterprises as well as of its governmental, financial, and academic
institutions. Innovation is the result of a process, influenced (and
influencing) by the contextual conditions that favour development,
thus, it is not only technology based. In fact, innovations in business
models, organizational design, and functional strategies are also critical
Chapter 1 Low Carbon Technology and Innovation Policy 177
1 TECHNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION POLICY
1.1 Introduction 3.1
Innovation nowadays is understood as a broad and complex
phenomenon involving many interactive dynamic processes occurring
in a range of contexts and landscapes. The Oslo Manual defines
innovation as encompassing either introduction of new or significantly
improved goods and services (product innovation), or introduction of
production or delivery method that is new or significantly improved
(process innovation), implementation of a new marketing method
(marketing innovation), and implementation of a new organizational
method in business practices, workplace organization or external
relations (organizational innovation) (OECD/Eurostat 2005).
A key feature of innovation that emerges from existing analysis
is that it does not follow a linear path that begins with research,
moves through the processes of development, design, engineering,
production, and ends with the successful introduction of new
products and processes into the market, rather, it is an interactive (and
cumulative) process that involves continuous feedback loops between
the different stages. A second feature is that innovation is essentially
the result of an interactive process between many actors, including
companies, universities, and research institutes.
It is now well-accepted that economic performance is not just a
matter of access to natural resources and large markets, or even having
a skilled (and much less cheap) labour force; innovation, knowledge
creation, and the diffusion of new knowledge are today the key
vehicles for enterprises, industries, regions, and countries for pursuing
economic growth, and thus, essential components for achieving
sustained competitive advantages in the economy. A country’s
performance is measured today by the degree of innovativeness of
its enterprises as well as of its governmental, financial, and academic
institutions. Innovation is the result of a process, influenced (and
influencing) by the contextual conditions that favour development,
thus, it is not only technology based. In fact, innovations in business
models, organizational design, and functional strategies are also critical
Chapter 1 Low Carbon Technology and Innovation Policy 177
