Charles Edquist is a Swedish researcher in
Innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
, one of the founders and the first Director (2004-2011) of
CIRCLE (the Centre for Innovation Research and Competence in the Learning Economy) at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...]
, and the holder of the
Ruben Rausing
Anders Ruben Rausing (; né Andersson; 17 June 1895 – 10 August 1983) was a Swedish industrialist and the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak.
Early life
Anders Ruben Andersson was born in 1895 in Råå, a small fishing ha ...
Chair in Innovation Research at CIRCLE. Some of his most noted research contributions have been on the ‘Systems of Innovation approach’, the ‘Swedish Paradox’ and ‘Innovation Policy’. His early contributions to the ‘public procurement for innovation’ literature are among his most cited works to date.
Educational background
Edquist studied for his BA in Statistics, Economics and Economic History at Lund University, Sweden, and followed this with an MA in Economics at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
, USA, and a PhD in Economic History at Lund University. His docent (habilitation) qualification was obtained at
Umeå University
Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders.
As of 2015 ...
, Sweden.
Positions
In 1987 Edquist was appointed professor of technology and social change at
Linköping University
Linköping University (, LiU) is a public research university based in Linköping, Sweden. Originally established in 1969, it was granted full university status in 1975 and is one of Sweden's largest academic institutions. The university has fou ...
. In 2003 he moved from there to Lund University, where he became the first holder of the
Ruben Rausing
Anders Ruben Rausing (; né Andersson; 17 June 1895 – 10 August 1983) was a Swedish industrialist and the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak.
Early life
Anders Ruben Andersson was born in 1895 in Råå, a small fishing ha ...
Chair in Innovation at Lund University's Department of Design Sciences. A year later he became the first director of CIRCLE. He has also worked at UC Berkeley (1973–74 and 1991–92),
SPRU
Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) is a research centre based at University of Sussex in Falmer, near Brighton, UK. It focuses on long term transformative change, science policy and innovation across different sectors, societies and structures. I ...
(Sussex)
CRIC(Manchester)
ISEG(Lisbon) an
IFRIS(Paris) from Oct 2011 to May 2012.
Academic and policy activity
As Director of CIRCLE, he facilitated the expansion of the research staff from zero to forty researchers representing 15 disciplines from diverse cultural backgrounds (12 nationalities). By 2011, CIRCLE had developed into one of the largest European centers for research and policy advice in the fields of
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
, research policy and
entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
.
His work has influenced innovation policy and strategy in Sweden and Europe, a result of his stints as an advisor, on various occasions and durations, to governments, international organizations and firms including the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
,
UNIDO
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in e ...
,
EU,
UNCTAD
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...
,
ILO
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...
,
UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
, and the
Finnish Government
sv, Finlands statsråd
, border =
, image = File:Finnish Government logo.png
, image_size = 250
, caption =
, date =
, state = Republic of Finland
, polity =
, coun ...
; Swedish organizations such as
VINNOVA
Vinnova is the Swedish government agency that administers state funding for research and development. The agency's mission as defined by the government is to promote development of efficient and innovative Swedish systems within the areas of tech ...
,
Nutek The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth ( sv, Tillväxtverket) is a Swedish government agency organized under the Ministry of Enterprise, tasked to promote entrepreneurship and regional growth, and to implement structural funds program ...
, and the Ministry of Industries; and firms such as
SAAB
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
Aerospace,
Astra-Zeneca,
Volvo Trucks
Volvo Trucks ( sv, Volvo Lastvagnar) is a truck manufacturing division of Volvo based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Volvo Trucks was a separate company within Volvo. The Volvo Group was reorganised on 1 January 2012 and as a part of the process, Vol ...
, and Sweco Eurofutures. During 2011-2012, he was a Member of the Research Policy Advisory Committee to the Swedish Government chaired by Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education,
Jan Björklund
Jan Arne Björklund (born 18 April 1962) is a Swedish Liberal politician. He was member of the Riksdag from 2006 to 2019, representing Stockholm County, and served as leader of the Liberals from 2007 to 2019. Björklund served as Minister for Ed ...
.
One of his current projects is the Rausing Project on Innovation Processes and Policies. It addresses theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented dimensions within innovation systems, and focuses on the determinants, consequences and the measurement of innovation; it also deals with the theory, rationales, objectives, instruments and practices of innovation policies.
In September 2013 his paper with Prof. Susana Borrás receive
the best paper awardat the biannual conference at the Atlanta Conference on Science & Innovation Policy (
http://www.atlantaconference.org/), at The Georgia Institute of Technology.
On February 24, 2015, Charles was appointed to become a member of the Swedish National Innovation Council, with
Swedish Prime Minister
The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are sub ...
Stefan Löfven
Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the Party of European Socialists, President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden fro ...
as chair.
The Council consists of 5 government ministers and 10 external members from different sectors of society.
Selected publications
#Borrás, S and Edquist, C. (2015): Education, training and skills in innovation policy ''Science and Public Policy'' Vol. 42, Nr. 2, pp. 215–227 https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scu043
#Borrás, Susana and Edquist, Charles (2013): “The choice of innovation policy instruments”. ''Technological Forecasting and Social Change.'' Vol 80 (8): 1513–1522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.03.002
#
#
# Edquist, C., and Hommen, L. (eds.) (2008), ‘Small Country Innovation Systems: Globalization, change, and policy in Asia and Europe’ also in Chinese by Science Press (Beijing) (2012).
#
# Edquist, C., Luukkonen, T., and Sotarauta, M. ‘Broad-based Innovation Policy, sub-report in Evaluation of the Finnish National Innovation System - Full Report,’ Helsinki, 2009.
# Arvidsson, G., Bergström, H., Edquist, C., Högberg, D., and Jönsson, B. (2007), ‘Medicin för Sverige – Nytt liv i en framtidsbransch’ (Medicine for Sweden – New life into a sector of the future), SNS publishers.
# Fulton, O., Santiago, P., Edquist, C., El-Khawas, E., and Hackl, E. (2007), ‘Thematic Review of Tertiary Education: Poland’, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Directorate for Education, Education and Training Policy Division.
# Edquist, C. (2005), ‘Systems of Innovation: Perspectives and Challenges’, in Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D., and Nelson, R. (eds.). Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
# Edquist, C. (ed.) (2003), ‘The Internet and Mobile Telecommunications System of Innovation: Developments in Equipment, Access and Content’, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.
# Edquist, C. (2002), ‘Innovationspolitik för Sverige – mål, skäl, problem och åtgärder’ (Objectives, Rationales, Problems and Measures –for the Swedish Ministry of Industry in Swedish and published by VINNOVA), Stockholm.
# Edquist, C., Hommen, L., and McKelvey, M. (2001), ‘Innovation and Employment: Process versus Product Innovation’. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.
# Edquist, C. (ed.) (1997), ‘Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organizations, London’, Pinter Publishers/Cassell Academic.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edquist, Charles
Academic staff of Lund University
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)