Complexity and standards—Programming innovation

Abstract

This work intends to explain step-by-step the special role of standards and their complexity in exercising innovation policy in the European Union. Standards might be an important policy tool for intentional diffusion of market sectors beyond textually available official policy documents/guidelines. This diffusion, having been initiated intentionally, continues in a self-regulated way as the interest driven for emergence of innovation. I study standardization in the context of the present Lead Market Initiatives, i.e. the official innovation policy areas of 2012 and put my main analytic focus on the most complex area eHealth with standard IEEE 11073 Personal Health Data as example. I also use the taxonomy of standards in Information and Communication Technologies by David (Economic policy and technological performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987) and Krechmer (Technical communications standards: new directions in innovation, 1999) for doing my policy analysis of the European innovation policy. Moreover, the research has suggestions for other paths of complex analysis.