Innovation Matters Podcast

Introduction  

Innovation Matters is a new UNECE podcast series that explores how innovation, or experimentation with ideas to create value, is changing our world and could drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals in the UNECE region and beyond.

As UNECE member states work to progress towards sustainable development goals, the importance of innovation as a leading driver has grown. Systematically trying out new ideas to create value, govern, and organize society to the benefit of all is essential to find out what works and what does not. These ideas are especially important to address potential challenges and trade-offs, such as the need to reduce poverty while protecting the environment and sustainably using valuable resources.

Innovation is transforming our societies swiftly and affecting a range of sectors and segments of society. Many foresee within the near future a radically different world where large swathes of economic activity have been automated, where autonomous, electric vehicles have made our cars obsolete, and where physical barriers to work have almost disappeared. This, of course, creates enormous opportunities – but also poses challenges, especially for UNECE member states with economies in transition. People are increasingly worried about rising inequality, the decline of steady employment and perhaps even most low- and medium-skilled jobs, and concentration of power and influence among the likes of Google, Amazon, and Apple. As the COVID-19 pandemic has alerted us to risks ahead and constrained the already limited financial resources that many UNECE countries have, countries face, now more than before, the imperative to promote innovation and to do so efficiently.

This podcast series aims to help UNECE policymakers and other stakeholders better understand how innovation is transforming our world and what potential opportunities and challenges lie ahead. The episodes engage leading experts on different topics related to innovation, such as the platform economy, the fourth industrial revolution, and the rise of autonomous vehicles.

Innovation Matters is produced by the UNECE Division of Economic Co-operation and Trade under sub-program 4 on Economic co-operation and integration. Episodes will be released twice a month.

Podcast is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

Subscribe below and stay tuned for forthcoming episodes on the fourth industrial revolution, the rise of autonomous vehicles, and many more. 

If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact us via [email protected].

Episodes

Episode 1: The Platform Economy – Revolutionising How We Produce, Consume, and Progress towards a Circular Economy? 

By radically expanding the potential for all of us to make use of resources and excess capacity, digital platforms open up a range of opportunities for UNECE countries – not only for consumption, jobs, and entrepreneurship. In the context of the circular economy transition, the platform economy is potentially one of the most important transformations of our era.  By enabling people to transact in ways previously unimaginable, digital platforms present a range of opportunities – and despite its rapid rise, we are likely only to have scratched the surface. How can we all reduce poverty, ensure economic growth and social inclusion for everyone while managing our resources in a sustainable fashion, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 12? The platform economy is one of the ways in which we can resolve this apparent conflict: using capacity better promises a range of possibilities to expand consumption opportunities while keeping resource use sustainable.

To help us understand what the platform economy is and why it is so transformational, this pilot episode of Innovation Matters welcomes one of the most distinguished experts in the area, Professor Michael Munger of Duke University. Based on his book “Tomorrow 3.0”, Professor Munger lays out the enormous potential of platforms to bring together potential supply and demand in manifold ways, making it possible for people to share and exchange in ways that were unthinkable for just two decades ago. In this podcast, we will discuss the nature and dynamics of the platform economy, its potential, its long-term impact in the role of public policy both to enable and catalyze platform-based activities in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as managing potential trade-offs and defining the role of government.

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:​

• Tomorrow 3.0: Transaction Costs and the Sharing Economy by M. Munger (2018)
• The Sharing Economy: Its Pitfalls and Promises by M. Munger (2021)

Additional relevant publications:

• The Long Tail by M. Andreessen (2006)
• The Nature of the Firm by R. Coase (1937)
• Cell phones, not factories by T.Cowen (2016)
• A ‘Good’ Industrial Policy is Impossible: With an Application to AB5 and Contractors by M. Munger (2021)
• The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism by A. Sundararajan (2016)

Relevant UNECE work

Circular Economy 

• UNECE’s 69^th Commission session devoted to circular economy where governments share concrete engagements for circularity and harness cooperation at UNECE
• UNECE policy brief Building Back Better: using platforms to enable sharing and progress towards the Circular Economy from the Informal consultations of the Team of Specialists on Innovation and Competitiveness Policies (ToS-ICP)
• The concept note from the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region, focusing on circular economy and innovation for sustainable value chains, outlining the policy dialogue and country case studies on implementing the SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production)
• The ToS-ICP report outlining the outcomes of the policy discussions on how the circular economy model could be implemented with the help of innovation-related policy interventions  

Innovation Policy Outlook (IPO)

• The 10-page summary of the IPO publication analyzing innovation policy reform efforts of the Eastern Europe and South Caucasus region

Fourth Industrial Revolution

• The policy note from ToS-ICP reviewing the nature of, the potential impact of, and consequences for innovation policies and institution of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT):

• The main page of UN/CEFACT, the focal point within the UNECE on trade facilitation recommendations and electronic business standards, outlining its key areas of work and current projects

Food Loos and Waste

• The webpage of the UNECE Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards including the latest UNECE tools to combat food loss and waste

Episode 2: Post-Socialist Transition 30 Years on: the Importance of Furthering Broad Innovation to Progress Towards Agenda 2030

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, UNECE countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia have been undergoing the transition process from the centrally planned economies to the market economy. 30 years later, post-Soviet countries had varied success in reaching the increasingly market economy, bringing interesting findings of how economic development for sustainable development, and innovation policy, in particular, is dependent upon the foundation and the ongoing transition process for UNECE countries.

To examine the transition process and the different outcomes for economic policy across these countries, the guest for this episode is Dr. Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan from St. John’s University in New York. Dr. V. Gevorkyan’s research areas include macroeconomic policy, economic development, labour migration, with a distinct focus on post-Socialist transition economies. Based on his book “Transition Economies: Economic Transformation, Development and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union” (2018), Dr.Gevorkyan traces the economic development process, assessing these countries based on the socialist path they have had, the nature of institutional and structural change affecting the countries in transition before and after the fall of communism. In this podcast, we further discuss how these countries historically evolved in their economic policies and development, the role of central planning and its impact on innovation, the reform efforts and the role of institutions throughout this process.

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:​

Transition Economies: Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union by Aleksandr Gevorkyan (2018)

Additional relevant publications:

• Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution by R. C. Allen (2009)
• Transition Economies by A. Aslund (n.d.)
• Lessons from Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe in the Wake of the Global Financial Crisis by A. Aslund (2012)
• Why Growth in Emerging Economies is Likely to Fall by A. Aslund (2013)
• From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union by I. Berend (2009)
• Transition Report 2020-2021: “The State Strikes Back” by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2020)
• A Quarter Century of Post-Communism Assessed by M.S. Fish, G. Gill, M. Petrovic (editors, 2017)
• The legends of the Caucasus: Economic Transformation of Armenia and Georgia by A.V. Gevorkyan (2015)
• How History Matters in Post-Socialist Economies by A.V. Gevorkyan (2018)
• Poverty in “Transition”: 30 Years After and in the Pandemic by A.V. Gevorkyan and J. Assa (2021)
• 25 Years of Reforms in Ex-Communist Countries by Oleh Havrylyshyn, Xiaofan Meng, and Marian L. Tupy (2016)
• The Economic History of Eastern Europe 1919-75 by M. C. Kaser and E. A. Radice (1986)
• The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism by J. Kornai (1992)
• Book review: Transition Economics. Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union by John Marangos (2021)
• Strategies of Economic Development by V. Popov (2011)
• War and socialism: Why Eastern Europe Fell behind between 1950 and 1989 by T. Vonyo (2017)

Relevant UNECE work:

Innovation Policy Outlook (IPO):

• The 10-page summary of the IPO publication analysing innovation policy reform efforts of the Eastern Europe and South Caucasus region
• The IPO’s Chapter I on the central role of innovation in the transition towards sustainable development

Episode 3: The Innovation Paradox: Innovation in Transition Economies 

Given that the potential returns of innovation in developing and catch-up economies is large, why there is so little investment into innovation? This “innovation paradox” is at the centre of this episode.  Despite the enormous potential that innovation, especially gradual innovation building on ideas and technologies that have proven their mettle elsewhere, and despite, in many countries, strong political commitment, UNECE transition economies struggle to innovate in ways that drive productivity growth and sustainable development.  

Why do good ideas not necessarily translate into innovation, and what can developing countries do about it? We decided to ask this and many other questions to Dr. Xavier Cirera and Professor William Maloney, the economists from the World Bank. In their book called “The Innovation Paradox: Developing-Country Capabilities and the Unrealized Promise of Technological Catch-up”, they examine the nature of innovation in developing countries, the innovation paradox, and what governments can do to resolve the innovation policy dilemma. In this podcast, the authors dissect these elements of why countries do not get the expected rate returns from follower countries to catch up, and what developing countries can do to boost innovation.  

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:​

• The Innovation Paradox: Developing-Country Capabilities and the Unrealized Promise of Technological Catch-Up by X. Cirera and W. Maloney (2017) 

Additional relevant publications:

• Innovation: A Very Short Introduction by M. Dodgson and D. Gann (2018) 
• The Politics of Innovation: Why Some Countries Are Better Than Others at Science and Technology by M. Taylor (2016) 
• Unleashing Prosperity: Productivity Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union by the World Bank (2008) 
• Innovation Policy: A Guide for Developing Countries by the World Bank (2010) 

Relevant UNECE work: 

• The publication Innovation Policy Outlook assessing and benchmarking the scope, quality and effectiveness of innovation policies in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus  
• The publication Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Georgia analysing the country’s innovation-driven growth  
• The handbook on supporting innovative high-growth enterprises in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus to enable the sub-region to design effective policies and institutions

Episode 4: The Rise of the Global Digital Economy and the Lessons Transition Economies Could Learn from East Asia

Often referred to as the Internet or New Economy, the digital economy offers remarkable ways of channelling business through the consumers using the Internet. Each day, billions of people connect with others, purchase services from businesses – all within a click of a button from their electronic devices. These new, rapidly unfolding processes and forms of content, distributed in a variety of digital formats, offer salient opportunities and scope for innovation. Digital economy has been forming a unique part of the global economy far too difficult to ignore – but what is the government’s role in supporting the evolution and promotion of the digital economy?    

In this episode, Professor Carin Holroyd and Professor Ken Coates, both from the University of Saskatchewan, will explore the nature, implications, potential and risks of the government’s policy in digital economy. Based on the author’s publication The Global Digital Economy: A Comparative Policy Analysis, governments still tend to underestimate and misunderstand the economic potential of the digital content sector due to the old mindsets about the traditional industrial economy. Governments still may not know how to support digital content companies – although this is changing in the light of the successes of Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta, and the like. As our guests show, experiences from the frontrunners in East Asia – most notably from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore – provide fascinating opportunities to take a closer look at a public use of digital technologies and to consider government policies and efforts to expand the sector.

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:​

• The Global Digital Economy: A Comparative Policy Analysis by C. Holroyd (2015)  

Additional relevant publications: 

• Digital Economy Report 2021 by UNCTAD (2021) 

 

Relevant UNECE work: 

• Publications about the governments’ national innovation strategies in the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan  
• Rising Product Digitalisation and Losing Trade Competitiveness by UNCTAD (2017) 

Episode 5: Holistic Innovation Policy and the Governance of National Innovation Systems

As Paul Krugman once said, “productivity is not everything, but in the long run, it is almost everything”. Surely, productivity is the most important source of social and economic welfare, but innovation is also the most important source of productivity growth. The difficulty with the innovation processes is that they are evolutionary; we do not know exactly where they are going, and we cannot predict them.

To understand how innovation works, the Systems of Innovation approach has emerged – a perspective with strong roots in the Schumpeterian and Austrian schools of economics. Putting this approach into practice, however, has been difficult. One of the most recognised experts in this field, Dr. Charles Edquist from Lund University, has worked on a model that could provide guidance: the holistic view of the innovation policy. In this podcast, we ask Charles about how this approach to innovation can enable us to understand innovation better, what are the determinants of innovation processes and how they can strengthen innovation systems, especially as the basis for good policymaking.

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:​

• Towards a holistic innovation policy: Can the Swedish National Innovation Council (NIC) Be a Role Model? by C. Edquist (2019

• Holistic Innovation Policy: Theoretical Foundations, Policy Problems and Instrument Choices by C. Edquist and S.Borrás (2019

• Functional Procurement for Innovation, Welfare and the Environment by C. Edquist and J.M. Zabala-Iturriagagoitia (2020)

 

Additional relevant publications: 

• Innovation: A Very Short Introduction by M. Dodgson and D. Gann (2018)

• The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Myths by M. Mazzucato (2013)

• The Politics of Innovation: Why Some Countries Are Better Than Others at Science and Technology by M. Taylor (2016)

• Unleashing Prosperity: Productivity Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union by the World Bank (2008)

 

Relevant UNECE work: 

Innovation for Sustainable Development Reviews (I4SDRs):

• The latest Innovation for Sustainable Development review of Georgia (2021) where the analysis, findings and recommendations of Georgia’s national innovation system are presented using the approach addressing national priorities under the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

   

Episode 6: Tending Regional and Local Gardens of Innovation to Accelerate Sustainability Transition 

Globally, experts observe drastically different patterns of innovation-driven growth. Unsurprisingly, such diversity of outcomes can be largely attributed to the differences in national innovation systems. Even in the era of globalisation, national policies continue shaping development paths, experimentation opportunities, and transformative capacity of enterprises. Yet formulating effective national (and regional) innovation policies is not an easy task and requires complex considerations. From local-based preconditions to regional specificities, policymakers have a lot of factors to balance. 

In the sixth episode of UNECE’s Innovation Matters podcast, we welcome Prof. Cristina Chaminade, the Director of the Master’s program in Innovation and Global Sustainable Development at Lund University. Together with Cristina, we will tackle how policymakers can establish regional and local hubs of innovation. Cristina’s main area of expertise lies within the nexus of innovation, sustainable development and nature conservation. Her research focuses on system transformation in developing countries; Cristina explores how emerging economies can accumulate the competencies that would allow them to upgrade and diversify. Previously, Cristina has researched a diversity of countries including China, India, South Africa, Thailand, Costa Rica, Brazil, Italy and Sweden. She has also worked as an expert consultant for international organizations including the European Commission, UNCTAD, OECD and UN-ECLAC and conservation NGOs. 

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:​  

• Understanding Process of Path Renewal and Creation in Thick Specialized Regional Innovation Systems. Evidence from Two Textile Districts in Italy and Sweden by C. Chaminade, C. Ballandi, M. Plechero, E. Santini (2019) 

 

Additional relevant publications: 

• Transformative Paths, Multiscalarity of Knowledge Bases and Industry 4.0 by M. Bellandi, C. Chaminade, M. Plechero (2020) 

• The Role of Territorially Embedded Innovation Ecosystems Accelerating Sustainability Transformations: A Case Study of the Transformation to Organic Wine Production in Tuscany (Italy) by C. Chaminade and F. Randelli (2020) 

• Explaining the Past, Predicting the Future: the Influence of Regional Trajectories on Innovation Networks of New Industries in Emerging Economies, Industry and Innovation by M. Plechero, M. Kulkarni, C. Chaminade, B. Parthasarathy (2020) 

 

Episode 7: The Innovation Commons: an old idea that will drive transformative innovation

Initially, innovation theory and innovation policy were assigned to the industrial economy. A centerpiece of this discussion is the entrepreneur, being the key actor in the development and diffusion of new products and services. But where does the entrepreneur come from? How are new ideas generated?

In this episode we focus on the concept of ‘commons’, known from discussions regarding the governance of natural resources, as a critical concept also to innovation and knowledge creation. Our guest, Jason Potts - Professor of Economics at RMIT University and Co-Director of Blockchain Innovation Hub at RMIT - explains how innovation derives from processes of cooperation and human coordination, in which a common understanding of the problem at stake is developed. From there emerges in turn the entrepreneur. There are, however, several factors, such as trust and clear property rights, that all too often prevent individual actors from sharing critical information. As such, they stall innovation in its earliest stage. In his book "Innovation Commons: The Origin of Economic Growth", Prof. Potts argues that to overcome these obstacles we need more elaborate governance systems that enable and facilitate also the cooperation and sharing inputs, ideas, and opportunities.

This is one of two episodes with Prof. Potts. The second one will look more closely at the theory of economic evolution and its implications. 

 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

This week's focus:​  

• Innovation Commons. The Origin of Economic Growth by Jason Potts (2019)

Additional relevant publications:

• Innovation Commons: New Innovation Policy for a Digital Economy, Jason Potts (2022)
• The New Evolutionary Microeconomics, Complexity, Competence and Adaptive Behaviour by Jason Potts (2000)

Episode 8: Cities as Test-Beds for Innovation to Drive Sustainable Development

When it comes to innovation development, the opinion often gravitates towards a macro-level government-focused perspective. Yet, as we discuss in the next episode of the Innovation Matters podcast, innovation does not only come from the national institutions but also from regional governments and even city-level programmes. It is cities that overwhelmingly provide the elements, systems, and dynamism driving innovation. They serve as test-beds, or laboratories, for trying out ideas for entrepreneurship, policies, and partnerships to see what works and what does not. Yet, in the words of today’s guest, “cities are places where the problems are really visible” and where we can address real challenges through small-scale pilots.  

Considering the importance of cities in fostering innovation, today’s episode analyses their potential impact in solving the most pressing social challenges ranging from pollution to sustainable energy transition. To guide us in this discussion, we welcome Susana Borrás, a Professor at the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Susana researches among other, about the design of innovation policy and its instruments, the governance of change in socio-technical systems, policy learning, and about the capacity of public sector organizations in transformative innovation. In addition to her research activities, Susana Borrás also advises governments and institutions at international, national, and city levels on matters of science, technology and innovation policy.

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

 

This week's focus:

• City-Wide Scale-Up of Smart City Pilot Projects: Governance Conditions by L. Bundgaard and S. Borras (2021)

Additional relevant publications:

• The Roles of the State in the Governance of Socio-Technical Systems’ Transformation by S. Borrás and J. Edler (2020)  
• Holistic Innovation Policy: Theoretical Foundations, Policy Problems and Instrument Choices by S. Borrás and C. Edquist (2019) 
• Smart City Research: A Holistic and State-Of-The-Art Literature Review by F. Zhao, O. I. Fashola, T.I. Olarewaju, and I. Onwumere (2021)  

Relevant UNECE work:

• Learn more about the improvement of smart and sustainable urban development through the Key Performance Indicators for Smart and Sustainable Cities (PI4SSC)   

Episode 9: Supporting transformative innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainable developmen

Over the past decades, ECE countries have made significant efforts towards strengthening sustainable growth in line with the United Nations Agenda 2030. Still, many countries in the sub-region are not on track to reach the targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Continuing to bring people out of poverty while managing finite resources and preserving the environment is only possible with innovation that allows us to do and produce more with less. As a result, there is a growing momentum around concepts such as mission orientation, directionality, and the entrepreneurial state - all intended to support a sustainable transformation of our societies.  

To better understand the nature of transformative innovation and its' importance for sustainable development, we welcome Barbara Diehl, Chief Partnership Officer at the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND), which was created to look for new answers to the social, ecological, and economic challenges of our time. 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

Relevant publications:

• Please find more about the work of the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation here 
• Interview with Barbara Diehl, Chief Partnership Officer at the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND), ROLE MODELS: Barbara Diehl | SPRIND 

Relevant UNECE work:

• Please find more about the UN-ECE Transformative Innovation Network (ETIN) that brings together innovation agencies, policy makers, government officials, think tanks, researchers, practitioners, experts, and entrepreneurs mandated to supporting or engaged in transformative innovation in the UNECE region

Episode 10: Openness to creative destruction (part 1) – lessons from the past for the transformative innovation of the future

How has our life improved through innovation? How has innovation occurred throughout history? How can policies be crafted to encourage innovative entrepreneurs to bring us more innovation? To guide us with these questions, we highly welcome today Professor Arthur Diamond to discuss his book Openness to Creative Destruction: Sustaining Innovative Dynamism. In this podcast, which is the first of 3 episodes, he will start taking us through a narrative of human progress through creative destruction, or innovative dynamism, showing how it has created unprecedented benefits using ample examples and details. He will also demonstrate how such dynamism is far from inevitable, and the factors that, then and now, are holding back its potential. 

Arthur Diamond studied philosophy and economics at the University of Chicago, where he also was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Nobel laureate Gary Becker. After Chicago, he was on the faculty at The Ohio State University and is now Professor of Economics at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Professor Arthur Diamond wrote the script for “Frank Knight and the Chicago School” in the Great Economic Thinkers series. His “Innovation Unbound” policy brief from the Mercatus Center argues entrepreneurship flourishes when regulations are few and “Innovative Dynamism Allows All to Flourish” article on Oxford University Press’s blog argues that entrepreneurial capitalism most benefits the poor and unprivileged. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, a Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. 

Episode is available on: 

SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 

This week’s focus: 

• Openness to Creative Destruction: Sustaining Innovative Dynamism by Arthur Diamond 

Additional relevant publications: 

 

• "Against the Man of System: Innovative Dynamism after Covid-19." by A. Diamond (2021) 
• "The Creative Destruction of Labor Policy." by A. Diamond (2014) 
• “Innovative Dynamism Allows All to Flourish.” by A. Diamond (2020) 
• “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy” by Joseph Schumpeter (1942); 
• “The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America” by E. Freeberg (2015) 
• “Capitalism and Freedom” by M. Friedman (1962) 
• “Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World” by D. McCloskey (2010) 
• “The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World” by Amar Bhide (2008) 

Relevant UNECE work:  

Please find more about how innovation occurs with the UN-ECE Transformative Innovation Network (ETIN) that brings together innovation agencies, policy makers, government officials, think tanks, researchers, practitioners, experts, and entrepreneurs mandated to supporting or engaged in transformative innovation in the UNECE region.