Documents innovation 797 results

"Growing socio-economic disparities in the EU, both within and between member states, pose a serious threat to the Union's social model, political viability, and its economic strength. In the absence of adequate levels of public investment, and with the added pressures of an ageing population and societal changes, Claire Dhéret and Marta Pilati make the case for a paradigm shift in the financing of social investment. The latter is based on the idea that investing in human and social capital enhances individuals' capabilities and enables them to successfully participate in society and the economy, resulting in a more skilled, resilient and healthy workforce.

But where will the money come from? In this Policy Brief, Dhéret and Pilati investigate the unlocked potential of EU financial instruments in fostering social investment, and the unique opportunity provided by the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) and the InvestEU programme. Although the Commission's efforts have been commendable so far, they argue for additional EU measures to ensure the creation of a genuine market for the social economy, which will not only help re-invigorate Europe's social model but also make it a global champion for an ‘economy of well-being'.

The EU can do this by: (1) ensuring that financial regulation is not an obstacle to social investment; (2) supporting social innovation throughout the entire social policy production chain; and (3) integrating national social investment strategies into the larger European policy framework."

"This article contextualizes the reemergence of mission-oriented innovation policies in the broader search for a new type of innovation policies—and the appropriate organizational forms—that can tackle “grand societal challenges,” and focuses on our knowledge gaps in designing and implementing such innovation policies. We identify the concept and practice of dynamic capabilities in the public sector as perhaps the key missing element in the search for the new generation of innovation policies. We offer a brief conceptual and historical overview of what constitutes mission-oriented policies, focusing on two key elements of missions: coordinated public investments and market-shaping policies to “crowd in” private and third sector experimentation and innovation. The article concludes by briefly discussing the central public sector dynamic capabilities for 21st-century missions."

"A novel theory of how technological revolutions affect the rise and fall of great powers.
When scholars and policymakers consider how technological advances affect the rise and fall of great powers, they draw on theories that center the moment of innovation--the eureka moment that sparks astonishing technological feats. In this book, Jeffrey Ding offers a different explanation of how technological revolutions affect competition among great powers. Rather than focusing on which state first introduced major innovations, he investigates why some states were more successful than others at adapting and embracing new technologies at scale. Drawing on historical case studies of past industrial revolutions as well as statistical analysis, Ding develops a theory that emphasizes institutional adaptations oriented around diffusing technological advances throughout the entire economy.
Examining Britain's rise to preeminence in the First Industrial Revolution, America and Germany's overtaking of Britain in the Second Industrial Revolution, and Japan's challenge to America's technological dominance in the Third Industrial Revolution (also known as the "information revolution"), Ding illuminates the pathway by which these technological revolutions influenced the global distribution of power and explores the generalizability of his theory beyond the given set of great powers. His findings bear directly on current concerns about how emerging technologies such as AI could influence the US-China power balance."

"Trade unions across Europe now mainly represent a shrinking workforce in the public sector and traditional manufacturing, while struggling to organise low-paid private service workers. Even in countries with strong institutional support, unions risk stagnation if they fail to adapt.

Countering this bleak outlook, research on union revitalisation underscores the agency of unions and their resilience as collective actors. Indeed, several trade unions are experimenting with innovative methods, tactics or practices. Often, such inspiration emerges from grassroots initiatives or comes from abroad.

This volume adopts a case study approach, examining eleven instances of innovation in nine union organisations across eight European countries: Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia.

The case studies illuminate the conditions under which innovations take root and then develop scale, and the barriers that cause others to stall. Particular attention is given to activist networks, internal alignment, a supportive leadership that enables resource reallocation, and organisational learning.

Ultimately, union revitalisation requires more than fresh ideas, new knowledge or improved policy. It also demands a sustained investment in unions' internal capacity to collaborate, adapt and learn."

"This report examines how place-based socially innovative policies and actions can be better integrated into the broader European Union (EU) social agenda. On the basis of previous work and a roundtable taking place in the context of the Improve project, it a) identifies some main challenges for upscaling and consolidating place-based social innovation throughout the European multi-level governance system; b) analyses whether social innovation dovetails with the broader European policy goals of territorial cohesion and public participation, and c) proposes some cautious policy recommendations with regard to how EU resources can be used to better support socially innovative practices. Three main conclusions can be drawn from our analysis. Firstly, the EU supports social innovation both directly (by providing different kinds of resources for local socially innovative projects, not limited to financial resources) and indirectly, by supporting European umbrella organisations operating in the field of poverty and social inclusion. Yet, the degree of innovativeness of EU supported projects differs. Secondly, although EU support for place-based social innovation is significant, it is not consistent throughout the whole life cycle of social innovation. EU support is particularly effective in the early stages of socially innovative projects (conception and start-up). Institutionalisation of those projects depends on domestic circumstances (including welfare regimes' peculiarities) and, what is more surprising given the emphasis at the EU level, EU resources are no used for up-scaling local socially innovative practices. Thirdly, an important challenge is to adapt the increasingly top-down approach in the support of socially innovative projects, with scarce attention being paid to the involvement and empowerment of socially excluded groups."

"Il lavoro affronta il tema dell'innovazione organizzativa nell'impresa, mettendolo in rapporto con la progressiva affermazione dell'economia della conoscenza nell'attuale fase di sviluppo e con i conseguenti problemi di valorizzazione del capitale umano dei lavoratori. Dopo un'analisi storica dei punti di convergenza teorica tra l'economia della conoscenza, la teoria della crescita e la teoria dell'impresa, si affrontano le ragioni dell'incertezza strutturale che caratterizza le attività di "knowledge management", in ragione delle peculiarità che l'analisi economica riconosce al bene conoscenza e alla sua transazione. Viene quindi esaminato il tema della gestione della conoscenza ai fini dell'innovazione organizzativa, alla luce degli schemi logici dei modelli della "produzione snella" e dell'"organizzazione che apprende", e nella prospettiva della trasformazione della conoscenza in competenza. Vengono infine messi in luce i problemi connessi alla creazione di comunità di conoscenza nell'impresa e alla corrispondente diffusione della competenza della "partecipazione cognitiva"."

"The aim of this paper is to identify and provide a preliminary assessment of the resources that the EU has made available to promote social innovation over the period 2006-2014, with special focus on poverty and social exclusion policies. Such a focus is relevant insofar as the establishment of a quantitative target concerning poverty and social exclusion has been one of the major novelties introduced by the Europe 2020 Strategy: social innovation has been presented as a key area for facilitating its achievement. In order to identify European Union (EU) resources relevant for social innovation, we have adopted a diachronic approach taking into account two sub-periods: 2006-2010 (the period of the revised Lisbon Strategy) and 2010-2014 (the first stage of the new Europe 2020 Strategy). This has allowed us to shed light on both the varying importance of the issue over time and the evolution of the relevant instruments and processes implemented by the EU. Our analysis also provides insights into the complex and multi-layered European policy architecture for underpinning social innovation.(for more see paper)"