Responsible innovators: open networks on the way to sustainability transitions |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Environmental Studies Program, Bucknell University, USA;2. Bissett School of Business, Mount Royal University, Canada;1. Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Jaffalaan 5, 2600 GA Delft, P.O. Box 5015, The Netherlands;2. China Academy of Telecommunication Research, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 52 Hua Yuan Bei Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China;3. South China University of Technology, School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Jiaotong Building, 381 Wushan Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, China;4. Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Research & Development Center of Guangdong Province, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China;1. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore;2. The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University, United States;3. Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada;1. Department of Environmental Systems Science, Transdisciplinarity Lab, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland;2. School of Management and Law, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | This paper elucidates ways in which small high-technology companies through using open knowledge networks may contribute to sustainability transitions. The analysis focuses on young university spin-off companies as an important channel for bringing responsible innovations from university to market while it connects the micro-level with the meso-level of networks supporting socio-technical system changes. A conceptual reflection on responsible innovation, openness in knowledge networks and socio-technical systems’ transitions, is followed by an empirical research. Based on a hundred companies and four case studies, the results indicate that responsible innovation is one of the drivers of openness in knowledge networks. However, partner diversity in openness tends to have a negative effect on growth of the companies. Our preliminary evidence indicates that focus (product–market) and selectivity in the choice of partners connected to professional (venture) capital, market access, credibility and complementary assets are highly relevant when it comes to influencing change in socio-technical systems. A discussion of the implications of this study and suggestions for future research close the paper. |
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