Sectoral innovation policy adopting socio-technical systems (STS) perspectives: The case of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in five leading countries

Taeyoung Park, Jeehoon Ki, Jae Yun Ho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The advent of the so-called “Fourth Industrial Revolution” technologies has led to increased use of policy to support innovation in particular sectors of emerging technologies; however, limited academic research has been conducted on such sectoral innovation policy. As greater understanding is required of the socio-technical contexts in which such policies are implemented, this study develops a conceptual framework based on the socio-technical systems (STS) perspective. Together with the concept of innovation policy instrument mixes, the proposed framework allows for more effective design and analysis of sector-specific innovation policy for emerging technologies that have high societal impact. The framework is then used in a comparative case study of the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector across five leading countries through a comprehensive review of policy documents. The case study revealed similarities and differences in AV policy across countries, demonstrating the need for sectoral innovation policy that is more tailored in specific socio-technical contexts. The study also provides practical guidelines for innovation policy to support other emerging high-tech sectors. The increasing complexity of policy mixes results in challenges of policy coordination and evaluation hence, policy patching can be a more realistic and beneficial strategy than policy packaging.

Original languageEnglish
Article number123758
JournalTechnological Forecasting and Social Change
Volume209
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024 Dec

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Inc.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Business and International Management
  • Applied Psychology
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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