Introduction
Economic growth can be disassociated from the degradation of the environment by the development and use of new technologies (Hoque & Walsh 2011). As such, natural resources are depleting at an alarming rate. Therefore, it is prudent that governments, organizations, or individuals adopt sustainable innovation strategies (Weber & Hemmelskamp 2005). Considering that the increasing world population has increased global competition for resources, it has become impossible for people to use resources sparingly (Wheelen & Hunger 2012). Therefore, innovation in all sectors should be embraced as the only plausible solution to ensure sustainable development.
Even though sustainable development of the economy is mainly dependent on the business sector as an innovation carrier, the role of governments is significant. Unlike in the past, current governments are facing increasing responsibility to lead innovation strategies to safeguard the environment and promote more sustainable global economies (Sarkis 2010). A fully developed national innovation system has the capacity to contribute to both the nation’s economic development as well as the overall welfare of the society (Waffenschmidt 2007). The above imply that the government is the only body that can lead sustainable innovation initiatives on a national scale because it has many important areas of civil research across its sphere that can contribute to economic and social development.
Research question and objectives
Proposal for sustainable innovation strategies’ research question seeks to answer how the government can enhance sustainable innovation strategies. Highlighted below are the objectives of the article:
- To identify if the government’s role in sustainable innovation is crucial
- To establish the challenges faced by governments in their bid to lead innovation strategies to safeguard the environment and promote more sustainable global economies
- To identify if sustainable development of the economy is mainly dependent on the business sector
Literature review
Role of the government
Nilsson asserts that although the role of government is related more closely to networking and facilitating interactions between public and private actors, governments should assume a leadership role in the management of sustainable innovations (Nilsson 2012). Similarly, Mclntyre argues that the government has a central role in the society pull dynamic, which impels a process approach directing innovation towards sustainable development (Mclntyre & Ivanaj 2013). According to the above researchers, management of this transition requires a deep understanding of the actors involved in order to enable the transition to be formulated in a shared perspective. To promote sustainable innovation, the government should support technologies and innovative research through using public procurement to establish markets for new sustainable products and services. Similarly, the government should play a leading role in the implementation of action plans for global environmental technologies.
Chhabra asserts that governments can identify political issues or laws that might affect the success of sustainable innovations initiated by the private sector and identify their role in facilitating, supporting, or hindering such innovations (Chhabra 2010). The author believes that the government can also play a role by negotiating agreements, applying financial incentives or obstacles, and initiating demonstration projects and best practices. On the other hand, Bossink states that the government is well suited to lead in the development of sustainable innovations as it has access to research infrastructure and high research capacity due to their huge resources at their disposal (Bossink 2012). The author believes that enticing private entities to support or lead sustainable innovation initiatives is not easy because these entities are usually driven by profits. He states that it is important for the government to develop a well thought out sustainable innovation strategy to ensure sustainability is achieved.
Lead and manage government strategies
Bossink asserts that in order to promote sustainability, governments should show a preferred direction for the nation, businesses, and inhabitants by implementing national sustainability policy plans (Bossink 2012). The scholar believes that any government that seeks to promote and show leadership in sustainable development should define the nation’s sustainability goals for several years. For instance, over the past decade in Saudi Arabia government-led innovation and sustainability initiatives have begun to bear fruits. Awareness about the role of innovation in promoting sustainability in a vibrant economy is growing enhancing the innovation environment of the country. When a government defines and establishes sustainable plans that have consequences for the future direction of both public and private organizations, it should state what the various levels and departments of governments have to achieve in the field of sustainability, including the type of innovations that should be pursued to promote sustainability. Through this, the government can work with a national plan allowing the lower authorities to write their own plans tailored to their respective situations.
Governments can also promote sustainable innovation through the issuance of laws and regulations. Governments can establish prescriptive codes and certain levels of sustainable performance within which public and private entities are supposed to uphold (Bossink 2012). By restricting private organizations to certain sustainability boundaries, this strategy can enhance innovation as private organizations find new ways to maintain or enhance profitability. Governments can also promote sustainable innovation by providing financial incentives or pressure. In this strategy, governments can reward innovative initiatives that are environmentally friendly or apply economic obstacles to deter activities in unsustainable directions.
Research methodology
The proposed study will be a mixed methods research employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection and data analysis. In addition, the study will use a case approach to determine the study population. The purpose of using a mixed method approach is to ensure that the proposed research will benefit from the advantages of using both qualitative and quantitative methods and reduce the effect of the disadvantage associated with using only one of the two methods.
Given that the proposal seeks to identify the role of government in enhancing sustainable innovation strategies, it will take governments as the target populations. Through this, samples for the study will be obtained.
Both interviews and surveys will be used in this study. Officials in the target government organizations will be interviewed because they are the participants of the study. Surveys will be used to examine their approach towards the topic, while interviews will be done through questionnaires to investigate their attitudes and perspectives of the citizens towards the role of government in enhancing sustainable innovation strategies.
Conclusion
The success of a government-led sustainable innovation strategy is, however, dependent on who the government involves in the strategy implementation. The success of such a strategy cannot be successful if the private sector is not involved (Osburg 2013). It is, therefore, important for the government to formulate such strategic plans in a manner that enables private players to recognize business opportunities from the strategies in order to entice them to support the strategies fully and make the strategic plans a joint initiative between the public and private sectors.
References
Bossink, B 2011, Managing environmentally sustainable innovation insights from the construction industry. Routledge, New York.
Chhabra, D 2010, Sustainable marketing of cultural and heritage tourism, Routledge. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon.
Hoque, F., & Walsh, L 2011. The power of convergence linking business strategies and technology decisions to create sustainable success. American Management Association. New York.
Mclntyre, J., & Ivanaj, V 2013, Strategies for sustainable technologies and innovations, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham.
Nilsson, M 2012, Paving the road to sustainable transport: Governance and innovation in low-carbon vehicles, Routledge, New York.
Osburg, T 2013, Social innovation solutions for a sustainable future, Springer, Berlin.
Sarkis, J 2010, Facilitating sustainable innovation through collaboration a multi-stakeholder perspective, Springer, Dordrecht.
Waffenschmidt, M 2007, Innovations towards sustainability conditions and consequences, Physica-Verlag. New York.
Weber, K , & Hemmelskamp, J 2005, Towards Environmental Innovation Systems. Springer Science & Business Media, Dresden.
Wheelen, T, & Hunger, J 2012, Strategic Management and Business Policy: Toward Global Sustainability. Pearson, Boston.