Policy and Society

Research and innovation are increasingly called upon to contribute to overcoming societal challenges. The Competence Center Policy and Society examines the resulting requirements for research and innovation systems, as well as for the design of a research, technology and innovation policy committed to sustainability and societal well-being and its coordination with other policy fields. The various actors, institutions, instruments and mechanisms in business, science, government and society that generate knowledge and innovation are researched from a holistic perspective. A particular focus here lies on the generation of design knowledge and the development of effective policies that contribute to the success of complex transformation processes and institutional change.

We advise and support our clients from politics, politics-related organisations and academia at the supranational, national, regional and local levels in the conception of research and innovation policy and transformative strategies, as well as in the evaluation and development of funding measures, funding programmes and governance instruments. To this end, we use the latest theoretical approaches, analytical instruments, indicators, benchmarking and evaluation concepts.

In our analyses, we draw on a broad spectrum of qualitative and quantitative social and economic analysis methods, which we continue to develop further at Fraunhofer ISI. These include surveys, document and comparison group analyses, social network and discourse analyses, typoligies, as well as patent and publication analyses. In addition, we apply various procedures for the consultative involvement of experts and stakeholders.

Our scientific analyses, expert opinions and consultations help our clients to better understand current change processes and to steer them in societally beneficial directions through appropriate research, technology and innovation policy measures.