
Asian Research Policy
Browse Issue
Mission-Oriented Innovation Polices in Singapore: Research, Innovation and Enterprise Planning and National Innovation Challenges
- Writer jinwon529
- Date 2023-01-27 14:17
- Hit196
S&T Trends
Mission-Oriented Innovation Polices in Singapore: Research, Innovation and Enterprise Planning and National Innovation Challenges
Sarah Cheah, Stephen Phua
Abstract
Countries worldwide seeking innovation-driven economic growth face the increasing complexity and uncertainty
of grand societal challenges. The new generation of mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP) is led by societal
challenges to spearhead transformative system change. Despite the centrality of existing innovation system structures
to transformative system change and mission-oriented innovation, there has been limited attention to their role. This
article contributes to the agenda by investigating how existing innovation system structures should be reconfigured by
MOIP to produce relevant outcome, and how stakeholder commitment can be shaped by the legitimacy of MOIP. It
also examines how the tension between new and existing innovation pathways should be managed. Using the triple
helix and problem-solution perspectives, we studied the cases of Singapore’s research, innovation and enterprise plans,
as well as its national innovation challenge programmes during the 2010-2020 period. Our findings demonstrate the
critical role of institutional legitimacy in reconfiguring existing actors for successful mission outcome. Our analysis
shows the importance of social legitimacy among the expanded helix structures of government, university, industry
and civil society to increase stakeholder commitment. To manage the tension between different innovation pathways,
Singapore policymakers adopted a portfolio approach to pursue novelty in solutions to accomplish the mission.
Keywords