Mission forward: Forging new frontiers in mission-oriented innovation policies

The backbone of the conference programme is comprised of four key issues (see the conference process and governance section below for more information on how these were selected). These key issues concern what the theory and practice of missions tell us about how to: 

• Frame the mission to be at the right level of ambition: How to set collective goals that are ambitious, inspiring and realistic?  
• Enlist actors, programmes and budgets beyond the STI area: What governance structures and arrangements can best support systemic, whole-of-government, missions? 
• Crowd-in private sector financial and human resources: How to increase public and private sector engagement and leverage investment towards the mission objectives? 
• Deliver on their co-developed strategic agendas: What skills and supporting mechanisms are required for delivering on missions and how can these be built in the  public and private organisations delivering on missions?

A detailed key issue paper is being developed with academics and policy makers, and will be shared ahead of the conference to provide more detail on each of these key issues.

List of mission initiatives attending the conference (pdf)

For information on more mission-oriented innovation policies, visit our MOIP online toolkit. We have updated the toolkit to showcase the initiatives that are attending the conference.

The process supporting the conference aims to strengthen and deepen the linkages between the academics studying missions and those ‘doing’ missions (i.e., policymakers, mission leads, and mission partners). The conference process has been supported by two groups: The Policy Support Group (PSG) – a select set of policymakers interested in missions to guide the work and serve as a reference group in the lead-up to the conference; and the Mission Academic Board (MAB) – selected academic experts and consultants focused on mission-oriented innovation policies. We would like to thank these members for their support leading up to and during the conference.

The process started in February 2024 and will continue after the conference. It included:

• Definition of key issues: A first draft of the key issues was developed by the OECD based on its research and interactions with policymakers. The issues were informed and further specified by the Policy Support Group (PSG) and then several meetings with the Mission Academic Board (MAB).
• Consultation of mission experts on key issues: A template with probing questions for each key issue was sent to the members of the MAB to solicit their thoughts and relevant literature. 
• Analysis and synthesis of the consultation results: The OECD analysed the templates and produced draft key issue notes based on the input from the MAB, previous OECD work, and some targeted literature review.
• Feedback from mission experts: The key issue notes were discussed with the PSG and MAB to refine the notes before sharing them with the conference participants.
• Pre-conference online seminars – Three online seminars in September were led by members of the Academic Board with support from the Austrian Mission Facility to seed discussion on certain topics discussed in the Key Issue notes.
• A bibliometric analysis of the academic literature on missions.

10:00-10:30  Welcome coffee

10:30-11:40  Opening plenary session "Setting the scene for missions", moderated by Christian Naczinszy (BMBWF) and Philippe Larrue (OECD)

• Opening speech by Martin Polaschek, Austrian Minister for Education, Science and Research
• MOIP work at the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP) by Yongsuk Jang, Chair of the CSTP
• Video recording by Mariana Mazzucato Professor, Founding Director of the  University College London (UCL) Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP), and Author of "Mission Economy" and "Mission-oriented industrial strategy: global insights"
• Philippe Larrue, Senior Policy Analyst, OECD STI mission team

11:45-12:30 Key issues session plenary 1: Framing missions & enlisting actors

• Presentation: Missions – high expectations fulfilled? by Heinz Fassmann, President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
• Framing missions by Iris Wanzenböck, Assistant Professor at Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University  
• Enlisting actors by Wolfgang Polt, Independent Policy Analyst and Evaluator, Chair of the International Support Group of the Austrian Mission Facility

12:30-13:30 Lunch Break

13:30-14:35 Freudian Walk session

14:40-16:10 Key issue session breakout 1: Framing missions & enlisting actors

16:10-16:30 Coffee Break

16:30-17:55 Poster session 1

17:55-18:00 Closure remark of Day 1 

18:30 Cocktail followed by dinner

08:30-09:00 Welcome coffee

09:00-09:45 Mission academia-policy interface

09:45-10:35 Key issues session plenary 2: Crowd-in & delivering

• Presentation: Private sector engagement in mission-oriented innovation policy by Isabel  Vogler de Orellana, Austrian Economic Chambers
• Crowd-in by Stephanie Daimer, Fraunhofer ISI (TBC)  
• Delivering by Emily Wise, Senior Strategist, LU Collaboration and Affiliated Researcher, CIRCLE, Lund University

10:35-10:50 Coffee break

10:50-12:20 Key Issue session breakout 2:  Crowd-in & delivering

12:20-13:20 Lunch Break       

13:20-14:45 Poster session 2

14:45-15:00 Coffee break

15:00-16:10 Final session “The missions of the future and future of missions”, moderated by Piret Tõnurist (OECD)  

• Meta reporting on Framing by Amber Geurts (TNO Vector), Crowd-in by Erik Arnold (Technopolis), Delivering by Michal Miedzinski (JRC), and Enlisting by Erkki Karo (TalTech)
• Presenting good practices by Charles McIvor (OECD)
• Panel discussion: Piret Tõnurist (OECD, moderator), Christian Naczinsky (BMBWF/Chair), Matthias Weber (AIT), Patries Boekholt (Innovation Policy Matters), Philippe Larrue (OECD), Marc-Antoine Lacroix (SGPI), and Amelia Olsen-Boyd (CSIRO)

16:10-16:15 Conference closing by Christian Naczinszy (BMBWF)