Expert views on innovation and bureaucratization of science: Semantic network analysis of discourses on scientific governance

Abstract

This article analyzes and compares expert groups' (science policy experts and field researchers in engineering) perceptions of the national scientific agenda in South Korea. The national agenda seeks to identify the conditions necessary for creativity and innovation. In general, policy experts and field academics share a common notion that investment in human resources and increased interdisciplinary cooperation are prerequisites for global technological competence. However, comparison of semantic network analysis results reveals that policy officials and field scientists differ in their views of how the field of innovation, the academy and laboratory, should be governed and reformed. The analysis implies that more fundamental conditions need to be discussed in scientific governance, especially recognizing the importance of educational reform, encouraging collaborative culture in the academy and empowering a coordinative body in the government. However, these are yet to be included in the public deliberation.