Below the Radar Innovation

1

Below the Radar Innovation
Institute of Development Studies 5 March 2009
2
A word about authorship

• This presentation and the working paper upon
  which it is based is the outcome of discussion
  between
• Joanna Chataway, Norman Clark, Rebecca Hanlin,
  Dinar Kale, Raphie Kaplinsky, Lois Muraguri, Theo
  Papaiannou, Peter Robbins and Watu Wamae.

3
Increasing developing country share of global RD

• Between 1970 and 2000, the proportion of global
  RD in low income economies rose from 2 to more
  than 20.
• This rising commitment to RD does not translate
  into the emergence of a family of innovations
  meeting the needs of low income consumers at the
  bottom of the pyramid.
• What is to be done? What are we to do?

4
Investment in science and technology is essential

• Intensive growth is essential for economic
  development
• Investment in science, technology and innovation
  is key to intensive growth
• Question is what sort of investment is needed?

5
The Sussex Manifesto

• The Sussex manifesto reflected best practice
  thinking at the time but times have changed and
  we have changed the ways in which we think about
  the issues
• From Fordism to interactive just-in-time producer
  and user led models and
• From manifestos to reflexive research based
  interventions..

6
Why are changes important?

• Toyota distinguished between big changes
  (kaikaku) and small incremental changes (kaizen).
  RD and ST approach to technology development
  implicit in SM very much in the mould of kaikaku
  but Toyota finds that myriad small changes add up
  to rapid and significant changes.
• Critical distinguishing features of kaizen
• Incremental in nature
• Frequency
• User and consumer response is critical
• And crucially for SM emanate from shop floor.

7
Significance of changes cont

• Innovation in lean production systems is
  interdisciplinary and in-parallel nature
• Concurrent engineering requires different
  interaction across the value chain
• AND no clear separation of innovation and
  production process driven by boundaries ST and
  RD content. ST and RD exists but is
  integrated to far greater extent.

8
Why is that last point so important to science,
technology and development?

• Bells 2007 UNCTAD report and the importance of
  learning by doing.
• Our work on International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
  (IAVI) backs this up virtual company working
  in public sector interest and an effective
  capacity builder.
• Learning by doing and learning by listening is
  critical

9
From Mode 1 to Mode 2

• Mode 2 thinking also begins to impact on
  innovation debate.
• Links between science and innovation questioned
  in science policy interventions.

10
Nowotny et al

• the old paradigm of scientific discovery (Mode
  1) characterised by the hegemony of disciplinary
  science, with its strong sense of an internal
  hierarchy between the disciplines and driven by
  the autonomy of scientists and their host
  institutions, the universities, was being
  superseded although not replaced by a new
  paradigm (mode 2) which was socially distributed,
  application-oriented, transdisciplinary and
  subject to multiple accountabilities.

11
Mode 2 but not much in developing countries
12
Beyond Mode 2 New users and consumers.
Disruptive and constructive innovation for the
poor

• Below the Radar Innovation (BRI) builds on the
  idea of innovation systems and user led
  innovation.
• Also based on idea that firms are path dependent,
  get locked into architectures of innovation.
• Both an analytical and normative agenda

13
Below the Radar

• we use disruptive in the sense that it disrupts
  the trajectory and hierarchy of innovation
  players. This disruption may be technological in
  nature but we dont yet have any analysis of how
  very different markets can play a role in
  disrupting the participants in the innovation
  chain and the trajectory of innovation.

14
Matrix 1 Tech and Market
15
(No Transcript)
16
Matrix 2 market and hierarchy/industrial
organisation
Traditional
Industrial organisation
New
17
Below the Radar Questions and Tasks

• Better definition of what is disrupted?
  Markets, technology or hierarchy/industrial
  organisation?
• Collect a portfolio of cross sectoral examples
  that help define disruptive innovation
  technology, markets, institutional
  organisation/hierarchy
• Refine the underlying hypothesis the way MNCs
  are structured and organised
• How does disruptive become constructive
  innovation?

18
What would a radically disruptive and
constructive BRI innovation look like?
19
(No Transcript)