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Short abstract:

The paper addresses ideational (dis)continuities in innovation trends by developing a comparative framework for analyzing innovation programs in terms of three basic rationales for the role of research: “science,” “market,” and “mission.”

Long abstract:

The role of research in society is a topic of long debate, with multiple models and paradigms coexisting or replacing each other. The most recent trend focuses on directing research towards societal needs and grand challenges to foster innovative solutions. In this paper, we argue that the turn towards grand challenges and "transformative innovation" represents, to some degree, a new mix of previous ideas about the role of research in society. We also argue that STS and innovation studies can benefit from examining such intersections of past, present, and emerging ideas.

To address this, we develop a comparative framework for analyzing innovation programs in terms of three basic rationales for the role of research: “science,” “market,” and “mission.” First, we trace the historical sources of the rationales and provide examples of their contemporary presence across contexts and vernaculars. Second, we apply the framework to analyze the Danish government’s most recent innovation strategy, “Green Solutions of the Future,” encompassing a portfolio of specific initiatives. We demonstrate how the strategy continues to prioritize market and science rationales, despite rhetorically emphasizing green missions.

We argue that the comparative framework is a useful tool for identifying overt or covert continuities and discontinuities in innovation programs, including novelties across and beyond the basic rationales. Mapping such ideational patterns is valuable for understanding deeper currents in innovation trends and specific projects and foreseeing the organizational and political challenges they entail.