Beyond the digital economy: A perspective on innovation for the learning society

In view of the current socio-economic context, in which innovation is a key driving force for the sustainable development, which challenges are facing education and research to enhance and nurture innovation and better contri bute to help developing and exploiting engineering, science, and technology ? This broad question has motivated the work behind the present work, which reviews the strongest themes of the Third International Conference on Tech nology Policy and Innovation (ICTPI), which was held in Austin, TX, in Augu st of 1999. Under the broad designation of "creating value for the 21st cen tury in the globalized learning economy," the Conference brought together a range of experts to discuss technology policy and the management of innova tion in a context much influenced by a dynamic of change and a necessary ba lance between the creation and diffusion of knowledge. While the idea of in clusive development developed in previous Conferences entails a process of shared prosperity across the globe following local specific conditions, it is crucial to understand both the features of knowledge-induced growth in r ich countries, as well as the challenges and opportunities for late-industr ialized and less developed countries. Thus, this special issue includes a s et of extended contributions to the Austin conference that are largely grou nded on empirical experiences of different regional and national contexts. The aim of this introductory paper is to set the stage for these contributi ons, with an original contribution on possible roles for science and techno logy policy in the globalized economy. While much attention has been devote d to digital technologies, a more fundamental change at the start of the ne w millennium is the increasing importance of knowledge for economic prosper ity and the emergence of a learning society. The analysis shows that innova tion should be understood as a broad social and economic activity within th e framework of that society: it should transcend any specific technology, e ven if revolutionary, and should be tied to attitudes and behaviors oriente d towards the exploitation of change by adding value. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci ence Inc.