Transforming Innovation Systems: On Missions, Challenges, and Dedication

Abstract

Amid escalating global crises and growing demands for sustainability transitions, innovation systems (IS) research has undergone a “normative turn,” shifting the focus of research toward addressing complex societal challenges. This paper compares three approaches that have emerged in response to this shift: Dedicated Innovation Systems (DIS), Mission-Oriented Innovation Systems (MIS), and Challenge-Oriented Regional Innovation Systems (CORIS). We argue that comparing these perspectives can foster a more coherent and actionable understanding of how IS can contribute to the necessary transformations at multiple scales and reduce conceptual fragmentation. Through a collaborative, reflexive methodology including expert workshops and literature analysis, we explore the background and motivation, system description, system outcomes, system processes, and system governance regimes discussed in each perspective. Our comparative framework highlights important overlaps and differences and identifies opportunities for cross-fertilization and further research. In summary, our comparison contributes to ongoing debates about the normative dimension and the directionality of IS at the intersection of science, technology, and innovation policy, sustainability transitions, and transformations research.