Innovation Governance in Chile – a Methodology to Measure Cultural Elements in Innovation Systems

Innovative and competitive regional development processes involve tangible and intangible assets.  Hard factors such as infrastructure, etc. can usually be identified and measured quite easily.  On the other hand, intangible factors, such as cultural and organizational (networking, leadership, trust, cooperation, etc.) assets needed to promote innovation, still challenge researchers and policy makers.  Thus the increasing interest by funding entities (e.g. European Commission, Development Banks) and policy makers in finding ways to measure impacts at the cultural/organizational level in the innovation systems.

To assess the quality and non-quantifiable impact of these factors is a complex task.  Although there are some successful examples of how to measure intangible assets, most approaches are based on complex scientific research, requiring time-consuming field work and analysis, thus rarely applied in real capacity development programmes.  The challenge is to find a methodological approach to measure intangible assets that does not ignore the complexity of the innovations system process at a regional level, but provide at the same time a simple and handy enough tool to be used in the assessment of innovation systems that will provide the meaningful feedback that the decision-making process requires.

This article presents the GOA Governance and Capacities Assessment Tool©, a new method that has been tested during the implementation of the first Regional Innovation Strategy (according to the RIS methodology) in the Region of Aysen in Chile. The case of Aysen is also interesting from the point of view of promoting new types of innovation (non-technological, social, eco-innovation, innovation for sustainability), as the development paradigm of the region is based on its natural resources and on sustainable development rather than on industrial or technological growth.