A new publication, Transformative Innovation Policy: An Analytical Review of Key Methods and Challenges, provides an in-depth overview of the Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) framework. Drawing on a wide range of sources, the publication summarises the core body of knowledge generated since TIP’s inception and highlights the expanding global community of practice that contributes to its development.
As an emerging policy paradigm, TIP responds to the growing recognition that traditional innovation approaches focused on economic growth or national competitiveness are no longer sufficient. They cannot address the structural roots of today’s polycrisis, such as power imbalances, colonial legacies, accelerating climate impacts, and widening social inequities. The publication demonstrates how TIP offers a fundamentally different orientation for innovation governance grounded in system transformation, inclusivity, and long-term societal well-being.
The review outlines the methodologies and practical elements that underpin TIP and are increasingly embedded within policy processes. Experimentation is a key method for designing and implementing TIP, particularly through Experimental Policy Engagements (EPE), alongside Formative Evaluation (FE), system mapping, and niche nurturing processes. Two case studies in Spain and Indonesia illustrate how these approaches are being applied in different contexts.
A core finding of the review identifies three major gaps in the design and implementation of TIP: societal inclusion, context sensitivity, and epistemic justice. The authors argue that more explicit and deeper engagement with directionality is crucial to addressing these gaps.
The paper emphasises that directionality is not simply an instrument for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Instead, directionality serves as a means of creating democratic and decolonial conditions under which sustainability goals can be pursued in ways that are fair, effective, and grounded in principles of justice.
To support this shift, the authors identify four guiding directionalities that can advance the future of TIP practice:
1. Being Democratic
Strengthening democratic structures that are fundamental to social justice, freedom, and equity. This requires “opening up the political space” to address power imbalances and enable inclusive shaping of innovation pathways.
2. Elevating Decolonial Sensibilities
Transformation processes must avoid replicating extractive or exclusionary development models, and instead recognise diverse histories, knowledge systems, and ways of organising economies and societies.
3. Enhancing Well-Being
Placing human and environmental well-being at the centre of innovation policy by focusing on people’s needs, relationships, and quality of life, rather than relying solely on economic measures.
4. Navigating Contestations on Desirable Futures
Recognising that visions of the future differ across communities and creating processes that allow these differences to be negotiated, legitimised, and translated into shared directions for change.
Importantly, the publication highlights several areas where future research and practice are urgently needed, setting out the future path to be taken. These include a call to strengthen methodology and measurement by improving tools for evaluating transformative change, tracking systemic impacts, and building the evidence base for TIP, as well as a call to embed justice and contextualisation by integrating democratic, decolonial, and context-sensitive principles throughout TIP design and implementation.
Authors: Bipashyee Ghosh, Diana Velasco, Keya Chakraborty, Patience Mguni, Suci Lestari Yuana
Access the full report here.
This paper offers an important contribution to the global discussion on how innovation policy must evolve to remain relevant in a fast-changing world. Learn more about the TIPC members’ dialogue on this topic here.
Learn more about TIP by visiting the TIP Resource Lab here.