Innovation Policies and Big Data: Opportunities and Challenges

Innovation policies are considered to be one of the main tools to turn innovation into wealth, well-being and competitiveness in territories worldwide. However, given the ever-growing data-centered ecosystem where such policies coexist nowadays there is a founded suspicion that traditional methods for policy analysis, design and evaluation begin to fail, particularly when faster and more effective answers to societal paradigms are requested in a context characterized by sharp technological changes and unprecedented economic, scientific, political and social scenario. This chapter addresses the question whether Big Data analytics can become a tool capable of overcoming the current obstacles and adapt the public policy cycle to the new reality as it seems to be happening in the case of the private sector. We also explore if Big Data analytics can be the definitive tool to develop best policy solutions in a subjective, uncertain and dynamic environment, underpinned by different interests, as well as the degree of maturity for its application. To this end this work explores and exposes the role played to date by data in the design of innovation policies, concluding with a reasoned insight on the practical issues and unsolved research challenges that should be surpassed before empowering innovation policy making processes with Big Data analytics.