Accelerating mission-driven innovation

Methodologies, models, and tools used by regional innovation ecosystems to realise economic growth and societal impact.

From climate change and the energy transition, to cybercrime and the increasing costs of healthcare, our society is facing numerous challenges. To tackle them, we need innovations that are both economically viable and beneficial to society. Innovation policies were initially designed to foster economic growth by stimulating innovations only for economic profit. This began to change when Maria Mazzucato developed an alternative innovation policy framework, focusing on the stimulation and acceleration of innovations with a societal impact. The so-called mission-driven innovation strategy advises European innovation policies to shift their focus from economically attractive innovations to innovations that have this societal and economic balance so the region can be prepared to confront our modern challenges as they develop.

The Netherlands is committed to the mission-driven innovation approach, developing six mission-based Knowledge and Innovation Agendas (KIA). Four of the six KIAs are thematic and focus on the Energy transition & Sustainability; Health & Healthcare; Food, Water & Agriculture; and Cyber Security. The other two agendas are supportive and focus on (1) Key Enabling Technologies and (2) Mission-driven innovation management (KIA MV). As consultants in European innovation since 1988, the Bax & Company team has used its expertise to support the definition of the work programme and is currently managing the implementation of the KIA MV programme.

The KIA MV aims to accelerate and scale-up innovations with societal and economic impact. The programme stimulates the development, testing and dissemination of new and renewed innovation methods, models and tools. Bax & Company contributed to strengthening state-of-the-art knowledge, which has led to the following five aspects characterising mission-driven innovation:

Combination of social and technological innovation

Mission-driven innovation ecosystems should combine technological and social innovation or focus on so-called socio-technical innovations. Though many innovations are technical, social innovation is necessary to successfully implement the innovation. Both are intertwined and, for their success, often interdependent. The involvement of end-users, problem owners or citizens from the start is typically challenging.

Regional innovation

Societal challenges differ per regional context. It is therefore important to focus on the challenges of a specific area and its context. This means taking into account the available knowledge and skills and the regionally accepted vision and ambitions.

Coordination of collaboration within ecosystems

Mission-driven innovation often involves different societal missions and crosses sectoral boundaries. The innovation ecosystems are highly complex and involve a wide range of stakeholders. Intermediary parties can take the variety of stakes into account and can ensure that decisions are made, supporting the scaling of innovations and accelerating the realisation of impact.

Problem-oriented instead of solution-oriented

For mission-driven innovation, the starting point plays a crucial role. Innovation ecosystems should start with an identified and widely acknowledged problem that needs to be solved. From that position, different socio-technological solutions can be developed.

New governance

Mission-driven innovation ecosystems require new governance models. For instance, the role and involvement of the local, regional and national government changes. Also, the innovation ecosystems are aware of breaking down the dominant existing systems and building up new ones. How mission-driven innovation ecosystems exactly change their governance, structure, and organisation needs to be further explored and experienced.

To create an overview of existing practices and effective methods, models, and tools, Bax & Company conducted over 20 interviews and collected roughly 50 surveys at regional innovation ecosystems. The data showed that there is an interest in mission-driven innovation, aiming at the double baseline, realising economic growth, and creating societal impact. 

Even with an increased knowledge of the dos and don’ts in mission-driven innovation, many questions about realising and accelerating this type of innovation remain. There are ample tools and instruments that can guide innovation ecosystems on scaling mission-driven innovation.

The KIA MV therefore focuses on:

The KIA MV programme consists of three interacting work packages focused on researching, experimenting with and implementing methods and tools for mission-driven innovation.

Research on dedicated methods, models, and tools for mission-driven innovation. The Dutch research organisations NWO and SIA facilitate research and knowledge development on this topic.

Experiments to test and validate methods, models, and tools for mission-driven innovation with regional innovation ecosystems, intermediaries, consultants, and government.

Dissemination of methods, models, and tools through a dedicated online portal and offline workshops, events, seminars, conferences, and meet-ups.

Download our research report (in Dutch)

If you’d like to know more, reach out to the Managing Director of our Dutch office, Kees Joosten: K.Joosten@baxcompany.com.

Recommended Posts
European Experts Join Forces to Guide Vital Action on PeatlandsClimate adaptation, Insights
Shared bikes
Investigating the current MaaS sceneFuture mobility, General, Insights