• STI Policy Review
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2011

Innovation Policy has evolved to solve social problems through technological innovation. Industrial innovation policy promotes technological innovation so that it consolidates industrial competitiveness and aims at economic growth; however, societal innovation policy promotes technological innovation in the social service domain to improve the quality of life and strengthen sustainability. A different policy regime is required because the objectives and directions of societal innovation policy are different from those of industrial innovation policy. This report consolidates the concepts and characteristics of societal innovation policy that suggest policy options.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.17-45
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• 2017

This article reviews studies on the societal challenge and technological innovation. Technological innovation in response to social problems is a relatively recent topic of Innovation Studies. Socially-oriented innovations and policies are different in terms of the goals, innovation processes, and ecosystems when compared with industrial innovation. This study examines the existing research that discusses science and technology innovation from the viewpoint of solving societal problems and discusses the direction of future research. This paper presents major research issues on the characteristics of innovation in societal problem solving, innovation governance, roles and ecosystem of innovators, and relationship between societal problem solving policies and other policies.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.135-162
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• 2015

The purpose of this article is to reinterpret the existing innovation policy with 'the societal innovation policy' framework. It is looking into characteristics of societal innovation policy and the prospects for socio-technical systems transition and citizen participation are discussed. After the discussion, new interpretation of innovation policy elements will be dealt with lenses of societal innovation policy. It sheds new light on the key elements of innovation policy, such as Innovation policy governance, industrial innovation policy, regional innovation policy, and infrastructure policy and suggests direction of policy improvements from societal innovation policy perspectives. This will be an opportunity to reinterpret the existing innovation policy measures and to approach to science technology innovation policy for system transition with participatory perspective.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.5841-5859
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• 2018

The widespread adoption of the social computing paradigm has ushered in the development of online social innovation community (OSIC) as a promising method for solving social problems. Previous studies have not explicitly considered the conceptual factors that facilitate these communities' users' innovative activities, so it is vital to conduct empirical studies to verify the effectiveness of these factors. In this paper, the primary goals are to construct a theoretical model of the social innovation and empirically verify the casual relationship between theoretical factors and societal innovativeness. A survey of 398 OSIC users was conducted to empirically validate the theoretical model. The causal relationships between network characteristics and social innovativeness were experimentally tested. The results of this study indicated that ambiguity, switching, and multiplexity are important factors that facilitate social innovativeness, which contradicts the prior assumptions about innovation performance.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.111-136
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• 2013

Meeting and solving persistent societal problems and challenges through science, technology, and innovation is now an emerging policy agenda in Korea. This socially-oriented innovation needs integrated approach on technological and social innovation. This study aims to suggest the necessity of new process named 'socio-technical planning' and propose its characteristics and implications. It deals with some cases of socio-technical planning activity and classifies their characteristics and types. And then, this study suggests the direction of socio-technical planning development.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.888-914
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• 2017

The main aim of this study is a meta-theoretical investigation to explain the current theoretical landscape of social innovation theories and researches. First of all, this paper makes a typology of social innovation based on concepts and sectors of social innovation. Second, in terms of societal innovation, which it is a kind of social innovation systematic approach, this paper draws some implications for social innovation policy. My key argument is that social innovation could be specified in three different sectors, public innovation, market innovation, and social economy innovation. However, all of them have attention to such as improving a quality of life and making society more sustainable, so it can be argued that those different sectors are structured on social innovation altogether with common goals. Finally, in order to activate the social innovation ecosystem, the government has to play a key role as a facilitator to make sustainable networks and a governance of social innovation that is needed to coordinate between different features and roles of social innovation sectors.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2019

This study deals with the changes in the government-funded research institutes (GRI) in terms of 'responding to social challenges and turning to the institutes that are pursuing sustainability transition'. The newly established societal problem-solving R&D projects in GRIs are core experiments for the transition. In order to discuss about the prospect of transition of GRIs, this study used focus group interview approach. In the interview, the GRIs's stance on the societal problem-solving R&D projects, and its process, problems and the policy direction had been discussed. It is suggested that the necessity of transition is discussed and transition experiments are proceeding on a small scale, but experiments are still underway in the existing framework. In order to facilitate the transition in GRIs, it is necessary to carry out the experiment and the vision making work from the inside the GRI.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.233-267
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• 2018

This paper examines three perspectives on science and technology innovation that are aiming at resolving the social problems. Based on the relationship between technocratic experts and civil society in the process of social problem solving innovation, we will discuss 1) expert-centered approach, 2) citizen-centered approach, and 3) expert-citizen collaboration approach. After summarizing these three perspectives, we suggest the direction of development of science and technology innovation policies that solve social problems. It is necessary to identify the social problem solving type innovation policy as a strategic niche for the transformation of the innovation policy, and to develop the future direction in the following ways: 1) deepening the collaborative approach, 2) introducing the sustainability transition approach, and 3) reconstructing the innovation policy using new concept of innovation.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.129-151
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• 2012

This article deals with the characteristics of science, technology and society studies for societal challenges and policies to encourage that studies. It reviews several cases of science, technology and society studies. Transition management, community-based research, technology assessment and social acceptance of new technology are discussed. And it is argued that ' research' as a conceptual framework for analyzing the that studies. A couple of policy agendas enhancing that studies are suggested.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.117-137
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• 2014

In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in the number of R&D projects for solving societal problems. However, government-funded research institutes(GRIs) are going through many trials and errors due to the lack of R&D systems suitable for solving societal problems. In this regard, this study attempted to discuss the improvement directions for evaluation systems of GRIs, which serves as a major influencing factor in performing R&D initiatives for solving societal problems. Towards this end, a study of R&D initiatives for solving societal problems was conducted first, and improvement directions for effective promotion were presented after deriving limits in terms of R&D initiatives for solving societal problems, along with the current status of evaluation systems by GRIs. Lastly, implications and limitations of this study were discussed. This study has its significance in that it is the first research to propose evaluation indicators in terms of solving societal problems at the level of GRIs and is expected to be a foundation for future research of related fields.