macro-level societal problems

Innovation system studies have increased significantly over the past decades and various approaches have been presented in the literature; consequently, innovation policies have undergone substantial changes in the context of each period. Most of these approaches have focused on the development of technological innovation for purely economic purposes. Resolving macro-level societal problems based on the innovation system, called “Problem-oriented Innovation System (PIS)”, has recently been introduced in the related literature and has opened a new path for economic and social development of countries. Implementation of this framework by policymakers will serve as the basis for developing problem-oriented innovation policy for the problems or challenges facing society. To this end, this paper, while presenting the historical evolution of innovation policies, introduces analytical framework of “Problem-oriented Innovation System” as a comprehensive approach to analyzing technical and social innovation processes for resolving large scale problems with the aim of providing a basis for problem-oriented innovation policy. Finally, we analyze two case studies (the problem resolution systems of US earthquake and the digital divide in South Korea) based on the “Event History Analysis” strategy.