INNO-ACT · Innovation in Action: Studying Innovation in Times of Crisis
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2014-03-01 → 2016-12-20
- EU contribution
- €223,002
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IEF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Innovation in Action: Studying Innovation in Times of Crisis
INNO-ACT draws on the theory and methods developed by anthropologists investigating techno-scienctific and knowledge experts to study innovation in the making or "in action." The main objective of the project is to understand how innovation emerges and how exactly it contributes to the current complex societal challenges. Theoretically, INNO-ACT links unconnected academic areas of work on innovation, broadly categorized as social, technological/neo-Schumpeterian and business innovation. In doing so it paves the way towards "an anthropology of innovation," an interdisciplinary approach that bridges contemporary intellectual silos and generates new practical and theoretical insights on a topic with immense practical implications for industry, public policy and society. On the researcher level, the Marie Curie individual fellowship has enabled the principal investigator to return back to academia, re-establish her links to the anthropology and STS communicate, while building a new professional network and skills in the fields of innovation studies and management. More concretely, the fellowship has resulted in 10 distinct papers that have been successfully presented in international peer-reviewed conferences or workshops and are in the process of revision for publication.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
INNO-ACT brings sociocultural anthropology and innovation studies together to tackle the following interrelated questions: (i) How did innovation arise to its current prominence, particularly in the European Union? (ii) What are the different meanings, discourses, and values used by different actors when referencing innovation? and (iii) Under which circumstances does innovation emerge and make a positive difference to society as a whole? My project engages systematic information search and retrieval, and employs ethnographic research methods to conduct fieldwork among innovators and innovation professionals in different settings. By interweaving the largely neglected anthropological literature and novel approaches for studying the contemporary, INNO-ACT expects to advance the current scholarship of innovation. Although my research takes a critical approach to innovation, its purpose is not to reprove its proponents and dismiss it as a fad, but to understand how and what it produces, and its impact in addressing the current complex societal challenges. Based on the epistemological and empirical material generated by the study, INNO-ACT aims to generate concrete recommendations in order to assist the design of future actions. The project will be hosted at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. Situating INNO-ACT in the stimulating, prestigious and international environment of ESADE's Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management will be instrumental in acquiring new technical knowledge, enhancing my professional competencies and building my research capacities. In supporting the execution of this project, the Marie Curie fellowship gives me an opportunity to re-establish my research career and strengthen my qualifications in order to pursue a position from which to engage in intellectually rigorous and socially relevant international scholarship that addresses questions that matter.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- FUNDACION ESADE · BarcelonaCoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union