Hidden innovation or Invisible innovation refers to
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 ...
that is not captured or recognised by traditional indicators such as
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
(R&D) spending or number of
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s. The term generally refers to innovation that takes place outside science & technology sectors, which are the primary sectors which invest in formal R&D and patents. For example, although technological innovations are often developed in the oil & gas sector through oil exploration activities, these innovations are unaccounted for in innovation metrics because oil exploration is not counted as formal R&D. Other types of innovation, including
social innovation
Social innovations are new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions,Howaldt, J./ Schwarz, M"Social Innovation: Concepts, research fields and international trends" IMO international monitoring, 2010 ...
, can be classed as hidden innovation.
Although originally coined in the 90s by Diana Hicks and Sylvan Katz in their research on the hidden research system involving hospital researchers, and Mike Hopkins research on genetic testing within the UK healthcare system, the concept of hidden innovation has most recently been promoted by
NESTA
Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is an innovation foundation based in the UK.
The organisation acts through a combination of programmes, investment, policy and research, and the formation of part ...
, in their "Innovation Gap" Report, published October 2006. A later report, called "Hidden innovation", further expands on the concept and identifies four types of hidden innovation:
# Innovation that is the same or similar to activities that are measured by traditional indicators, but which is excluded from measurement.
# Innovation without a major scientific/technological basis, such as innovation in organizational forms or business models.
# Innovation created from the novel combination of existing technologies and processes.
# Locally developed, small-scale innovations that take place 'under the radar' and are therefore unrecognised or accounted for.
Sources
* ''Hospitals: The Hidden Innovation System'' (1996), Hicks D.M. and J.S. Katz, Science and Public Policy, 23 (5
PDF* ''The Innovation Gap: Why policy needs to reflect the reality of innovation in the UK'' (2006)
PDF* ''Hidden Innovation: How innovation really happens in six 'low innovation' sectors'' (2007)
PDF* ''Hidden Innovation in the creative industries'' (2008
Innovation