The Politics of Innovation Policy in the Netherlands

Abstract

Innovation policy in a broad sense—all policies that affect socio-technical innovation—engages a broad range of actors, including companies, universities, research institutes, citizens, societal organizations, and governmental organizations, often interlinked in innovation networks or (eco)systems, and may target both the supply and demand side of innovations. Entering Dutch institutional jargon in the early 1970s, ‘innovation policy’ was in effect an amalgam of various policies, including industry policy, science policy, technology policy, and policies in the fields of education and communication. This chapter distinguishes and discusses four main threads in this complex field: (1) economy-focused innovation policy; (2) society-focused innovation policy; (3) policy for democratization of innovation; (4) policy for regulation and institutionalization of innovation. Much of innovation policy research focuses on techno-economic ‘push’ objectives and instruments. This chapter analyses the evolution of Dutch innovation policies from a political perspective instead, emphasizing the social context and wider impacts of the range of programmes and schemes that make up innovation policy.