White Spaces Innovation in Sweden - Innovation policy for ... - Vinnova

WHITE SPACES INNOVATION IN SWEDEN4 Strange Attractors: Resilience,Relatedness & ComplexityGeography4.1 IntroductionIn this chapter it is proposed to introduce Design Theory as a key approach to tacklingkey issues raised about new imperatives in regional policy practice. In doing this webuild upon the analyses offered in section 3 and Figs. 3.2 and 3.3 by exploring „relatedness‟of the unexpected kind represented by „strange attractors‟. This is because it isnow clear that „wickedness‟ and „complexity‟ combine to make this the predominantway in which knowledge combinations for regional innovation occur. It also indicatesthe imperative for policy-makers to practise „transversality‟ to stimulate innovationsamong „strange attractors‟ rather than either assuming the market alone will do it or thatinnovation occurs mainly among neighbouring industries or clusters with many capabilitiesin common. It will be recalled that we proposed to analyse relatedness andtransversality from the perspective of the complexity sciences rather than from the moreusual rationalist perspective of either „individualist‟ explanations of change (e.g. Popper;Hayek) or systems or „structures‟ perspectives (e.g. structuration) that privilegethese macro-entities while still allowing for „global controller‟ roles in innovation like„innovators‟, „designers‟ and the like. In the complexity sciences such „controllers‟ areexcluded in favour of complex adaptive system effects. One of these, of particular interestfor students of regional development is the phenomenon of „strange attractors‟. Forthose recalling the big theme of this report it is that innovation occurs mainly horizontallyas regional path dependence leads to path interaction and new path creation (Figs.3.2; 3.3). The possible cause is either an external de-stabilisation (resilience effect) or anendogenous system topology that, due to new energy, allows for path inter-dependenceof the kind discussed by Martin & Sunley (2010). What occurs from such coevolutionaryfusion is termed „revealed related variety‟ in that it could never have beenpredicted yet results in innovation or novelty of some kind.In Fig. 3.3 emergence of novelty is the end point, whereas in Fig. 4.1 emergence ispresented as a general process of which „novelty‟ or „innovation‟ are possible outcomes.It is crucial to underline this non-physics-like process that is non-reductionist and nonpredictablebecause human systems are, as described in Chapter 2 concerned with lifeand evolutionary biology teaches that life, its mutations and speciations cannot be predictedex ante, only understood ex post. Indeed, this is gradually becoming understood75