An iterative model for the design of contextualised innovation indicators: experimentation oriented to food security development goals in South Africa

There has long been agreement that new innovation indicators are needed to respond to complex development challenges in emerging economies, but this paper contributes to show how new indicators can be designed. A key shift is away from the analytical focus on a national system or priority sector, to a new kind of challenge-oriented, systemic and contextualised indicator scheme. The experimental model suggests a way to measure how innovation policy within a complex socio-technical system, across a wide range of industrial sectors and enterprise types, is oriented to change that mitigates pressing socio-economic development challenges, in a manner that is sustainable and inclusive. Much remains to be operationalised more systematically, and trialled in practice. The design process and indicator scheme was of necessity illustrative of only agricultural production; but, similar iterative processes are planned for the other three sub-systems impacting the SDG goal of food security. Although the proposed model is ambitious in scope, it is equally pragmatic, extending and building on standard Oslo-based guidelines, that allow for comparability.