212working methods for innovation have often received limited resources and later been reduced in scope. “International comparisons suggest the success of the industry-led, co-operative research competence center model and its contribution to R&D, innovation skills and cluster growth. But effectively supporting scale-up businesses may require a different—more risk-tolerant—governance approach and a more entrepreneurial attitude towards center development” (OECD, 2018, p. 115).

4.5

Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCE) in Canada

This initiative can be traced back to the late 1980s and has had similar ambition to the competence programs in Austria. NCE programs aim to meet Canada’s needs to focus on a critical mass of research resources on social and economic challenges, commercialize and apply more of its homegrown research breakthroughs, increase private-sector R&D, and train highly qualified people. As economic and social needs change, programs have evolved to address new challenges. The programs support large-scale academic research networks. There is a clear multidisciplinary approach through which natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and health sciences meet. In total, the resources invested by industry, academia, and the state amount to about $90 million per year. To acquire skills in specific areas also seems to be an important task. Today, the initiative has developed into a number of national programs: Networks of Centers of Excellence, Centers of Excellence for Commercialization of Research, and Business-Led Networks of Centers of Excellence. Some investments focus more on creating knowledge and others on research or commercialization. The programs Third-Generation Innovation Policy: System Transformation or Reinforcing. . .

213runs for anywhere from 4 years to more than 10 years and budgets vary between $1 million and up to $146 million (Government of Canada, 2021).

5

Discussion

The cases of third-generation innovation programs reviewed in this chapter show that many innovation programs across the European continent are mainly designed to build competencies. Several of the programs described appear to constitute various forms of continuations of industry-oriented public policies for competence development that were put in place in the 1990s. Some were implemented with the aim of enhancing the productivity of established industries after the recession in the early 1990s. An important objective seems to have been to transition established industries toward more knowledge-intense activities. Important to note, though, is that such renewal is not necessarily equivalent to the transition required to address the grand societal challenges. A critical question regarding path renewal and the creation of a new directionality in the socio-technical regime concerns the formation of new competencies. Previous literature has pointed out that new technology can either build upon and enhance existing competencies or destroy the value of existing skill sets (Tushman & Anderson, 1986). For the emergence of a new regime—or new directionality within an existing regime—it is usually important to develop new skill sets that at least partially destroy established knowledge, hence calling for the formation of new competencies. This is one of the reasons why such transition meets resistance from actors in established regimes who thus find their current position in the regime fundamentally challenged. As can be seen in the cases provided, many innovation programs appear to be directed toward large, established firms and universities that are supposed to collaborate with these large firms. Furthermore, these programs are often sector specific and country specific with limited participation of foreign actors. This observation indicates the strong preserving power of established regimes.

While the creation of new skill sets can take place by interacting with universities, our empirical cases point at a couple of delimitations. First, an explicit focus on large, established firms implies that entrepreneurial ventures are disregarded as sources of new capabilities. While path-breaking innovations may take place in large firms, however, previous research shows that small firms make up a significant portion of all innovation in an economy (Ejemo, 2011). Innovation may also take place via convergence of industries (Berglund & Sandström, 2017; Chandler, 1980). Traditional media outlets such as newspapers and T.V. channels are increasingly displaced by social media firms such as Facebook and Google. The explicit focus on industry boundaries and nationally oriented initiatives in many of these programs is,