Postgraduate Course: Innovation Systems Theory and Practice (PGSP11426)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course provides an introduction to the theory of innovation systems (national, sectoral and technological etc) using a range of case examples in national and international contexts, covering both high and low resource settings. The course also provides students with the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to critique and apply methods of foresight and scenario analysis. The course requires no prior knowledge of the area, and will provide students with a foundational understanding of the theories and practices underpinning technological change and innovation from a systems perspective. The focus will be on the relationship among a variety of possible configurations for innovation in different industrial sectors, the processes of structural change, and evaluation of innovative performance. |
| Course description |
Is technological innovation contributing to the removal of geographical boundaries? The web, the globalisation of financial markets, the increasing delocalisation of manufacturing towards low-wage countries, the standardisation of intellectual property rights, all are seen as generating a global economy in which nation states and local constituencies have become less relevant. Local economies, however, are characterised by different infrastructures for research, innovation and production and continue to display different rates of technological change and economic growth.
Having emerged in parallel with efforts in economics to include technological change and knowledge dynamics into endogenous growth models, the development of systemic approaches to innovation can be seen as an attempt to provide an answer to this apparent paradox. From an interdisciplinary and historical perspective, this course provides an introduction to the theory of innovation systems (national, sectoral and technological etc.,) using a range of case examples in national and international contexts, covering both high and low resource settings. The course also provides students with the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to critique and apply methods of foresight and scenario analysis. The course requires no prior knowledge of the area, and will provide students with a foundational understanding of the theories and practices underpinning technological change and innovation from a systems perspective. The focus will be on the relationship among a variety of possible configurations for innovation in different industrial sectors, the processes of structural change, and evaluation of innovative performance.
This course, which requires no prior knowledge of the area, is designed to provide a much needed introduction for students to concepts and methods at the centre of contemporary studies of technological change and innovation including technological systems, industrial clusters and sectoral, regional, and national innovation systems.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Block 2 (Sem 1) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
3000 word Essay (100%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critical understanding of the innovation system, in the context of competing theoretical approaches, including the recent focus on innovation ecosystems, and in-depth knowledge and understanding of the key factors determining system behaviour.
- Knowledge and understanding of the key components of an innovation system ¿ its enablers and constraints - and how the overall system functions in different technology and industry sectors
- Ability to critically analyse, and use, foresight as a method to construct and plan for particular technology futures.
- Critical awareness of the challenges in planning and coordinating an innovation policy strategy for economic development.
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Reading List
Breschi S and Lissoni F (2001) Knowledge Spillovers and Local Innovation Systems: A Critical Survey, ICC, 10 (4), 975-1005.
Cooke P (2001), Regional Innovation Systems, Clusters, and the Knowledge Economy, ICC, 10 (4): 945-974.
Foresight (2011) The Future of Food and Farming: challenges and choices for global sustainability. London: Government office for Science. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288329/11-546-future-of-food-and-farming-report.pdf
Jefferson R. 2012. Shell scenarios: What really happened in the 1970s and what may be learned for current world prospects. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 79(1): 186-97.
Malerba F (2002), Sectoral systems of innovation and production, Research Policy 31(2), 247-264.
Maskell P. (2001), Towards a Knowledge-based Theory of the Geographical Cluster, ICC, vol. 10 (4), 921- 943.
Metcalfe S, and Ramlogan R, 2005 Innovation Systems and the Competitive Process in Developing Countries, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 48, 433-446.
Nelson RR, Nelson K (2002), Technology, institutions, and innovation systems Research Policy, 31(2), 265-272.
UK Synthetic Biology Roadmap Coordination Group (2012) A Synthetic Biology Roadmap for the UK. http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/RCUK-prod/assets/documents/publications/SyntheticBiologyRoadmap.pdf
Weber E, Eriksson A and K Matthias. 2008. Adaptive Foresight: Navigating the complex landscape of policy strategies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 75:462-482.
Wilkinson A. 2009. Scenarios Practices: In Search of Theory. Journal of Futures Studies 13:107-114.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Geoffrey Banda
Tel: (0131 6)50 6391
Email: Geoffrey.Banda@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Kate Ferguson
Tel: (0131 6)51 5122
Email: kate.ferguson@ed.ac.uk |
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