Science, Technology and Innovation (Free Online Courses at MIT)

Innovation and accompanying science and technology are now seen not only to have a profound connection to our health and daily life, but also to the society’s economic growth and its corresponding ability to generate societal wellbeing and solve societal challenges — and these economic and societal issues are deeply interrelated. This course focuses on science and technology policy – it will examine the science and technology innovation system, including case studies on energy, computing, advanced manufacturing and health sectors, with an emphasis on public policy and the federal government’s R&D role in that system. It will review the foundations of economic growth theory, innovation systems theory and innovation organization theory, as well as the basic approaches to science and technology policy, building toward a sophisticated understanding of these areas. The class will review a theory of direct and indirect economic factors in the innovation system, note the innovation-based competitive and advanced manufacturing challenges now facing the U.S. economy, review comparative efforts in other nations, study the varied models for how federal science and technology mission agencies are organized, and the growth of public-private partnership models as a way for science mission agencies to pursue mission agendas. Emphasis will also be placed on examining the organization and role of medical science and energy innovation agencies and gaps in the health, energy, and advanced production innovation economic models, as well as related innovation systems policy issues. The course will close with an examination of the science and technology talent base as a factor in growth and the education approaches that support it, and a discussion of the future of jobs and employment given increasing automation.

What you’ll learn

Students will emerge from the course with a strong grasp of the fundamentals of innovation systems and the economic and technology development factors behind them, and with a clear framework to approach science and technology policymaking. They will understand the basics of innovation-based economic growth theory, and also take an in-depth look at the innovation systems in health and energy.

More specifically, students will develop an understanding of the following innovation policy areas:

• The drivers behind science and technology support, including economic growth theory, direct and indirect innovation factors, Kondratiev innovation waves, innovation systems theory, the “valley of death” between research and late stage development, and public-private partnership models;
• The organizing framework behind US science agencies, their missions and research organizational models, as well as the DARPA model as an alternative;
• The competitiveness challenge in advanced production technologies, including global innovation models;
• The organization of innovation at both the institutional and personal, face-to- face levels;
• Challenges in the energy, computing and health innovation systems and also within legacy economic sectors in general;
• Key issues in the science and engineering talent base and education system and pending employment and productivity issues.