Innovation as a key to future forest sector development

Within IN2WOOD the term “innovation” is broadly defined as a new product or service or as a “significant” change in the technological or organizational process in the system under consideration (i.e. company, organization, industrial sector, region or country).

The term “innovation system” refers to a set of dedicated actors and institutions which contribute to the development and diffusion of innovations. As such, innovation systems consist of interconnected actors whose performance is determined both by the individual contribution of each actor, but also by how they interact with each other as parts of a collective system. The actors’ perceptions and activities are guided and restricted by the system’s overall framework comprising legislative, normative, cultural and other regulatories and rules. A prerequisite of innovation systems is, that interactions and relations are maintained over time (i.e. not just for one specific innovation project). Thus, the overall goal of innovation systems is to bring about innovations in a systematic way.

Figure 1 illustrates key innovation system components and their interactions. These components (represented and shaped by various actors) try to achieve more or less explicitly defined goals, for which they fulfil certain functions. Each component (and actor) is guided and restricted by regulatories, rules and codes of conduct on personal, institutional, regional, national, and international level.

 

 

 

Figure 1.  Key innovation system components and interactions in the forest sector
Text and figure are adopted from: E. RAMETSTEINER, G. WEISS, 2006: Innovation and innovation policy in forestry: Linking innovation process with systems models. Forest Policy and Economics 8(7), 691-703.

 

Typical functions of an innovation system can be categorized in:

• Reduction of uncertainties by providing information,
• Management of conflicts and cooperation,
• Provision of pecuniary and non-pecuniary incentives and support actions

The quality and quantity of innovations in the system under consideration, is influenced by the components’ ability to fulfil these functions and interact together. If one component is under-represented or even missing, the ability of the system to bring about innovations is affected adversely.

IN2WOOD's RTD questions

The overall objective is to strengthen INNOVATION SYSTEMS for sustainable and energy-efficient use of wood resources, in particular:

• Structures and forms of cooperation in RTD in the wood sector e.g. funding mechanisms, customer needs, regional wood action plans
• Innovation potential for wood-based material and energetic uses e.g. market analysis, technological state
• Market-related strategies for innovative products and systems e.g. cost effectiveness, trend scouting, trust building
• Role of networks and clusters
• Role of education and research
• Outstanding entrepreneurs and innovative projects
• R&D policies: action plans, chartas, roadmaps
• Funding instruments, support organizations
• Interactions and links outside the region