What drives innovation? And how can innovation help societies ensure future welfare and meet impending global challenges? This study identifies a new nature of innovation emerging within companies as well as in the public sector. A public perspective is taken by exploring policy implications of this new nature of innovation.

In order to formulate appropriate innovation policy encompassing a new nature of innovation, it is important to understand how the nature of innovation is changing. Innovation is no longer mainly about science and technology. Firms can innovate in other ways. Co-creation, user involvement, environmental and societal challenges increasingly drive innovation today. Collaborative, global networking and new public private partnerships are becoming crucial elements in companies’ innovation process.

This dedicated homepage has been created for the report. The contents of the report can be found online or the report can be downloaded in its full length. The 4 innovation drivers which are divided into 9 innovation principles and the 3 groups of policy implications are presented separately on this homepage.

Each of the innovation principles are based on evidence of new innovation behaviour. In order to illustrate the emerging behaviour, we have used business cases to describe what is new and what companies from all over the world are doing today. The business cases should be seen as illustrations of weak signals of innovation in the business sector.

The policy recommendations are based on insights gathered from seven OECD countries as well as international roundtable discussions with policymakers and experts. The insights are explained as policy cases and should be seen as early signs of new ways of thinking within policymaking.

When reading a principle, related business cases are highlighted in the menu. When reading the policy implications, related policy cases are highlighted in the menu.

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