Jakob Edler - Professor of Innovation Policy and Strategy

Jakob Edler is Professor of Innovation Policy and Strategy and Executive Director at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR, www.mbs.ac.uk/research/portals/innovation/), Manchester Business School (MBS), University of Manchester. He joined MBS in 2007 and served MIoIR as Research Director from 2007 to 2009. Before that he was Head of Department in the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Germany. Jakob has a PhD in political science and two master degrees (business administration and political science/economic history) from the University of Manheim, Germany.

His field of activity and publication comprise demand and innovation and related innovation policy; public procurement and innovation; internationalisation of public research and industrial R&D; industrial knowledge management and patent strategies, European innovation and science policy; evaluation and conceptual development of research and innovation policies, comparative research on internationalisation strategies in science and innovation policy.

Among his current research activities he is co-leading the large scale project “Understanding Public Procurement for Innovation” funded by the ESRC/BIS/NESTA and TSB (http://underpin.portals.mbs.ac.uk and he is one of the Co-investigators in the SCI funded research project on Focal Organisations and their role as large demanders in re-shaping consumption and production systems.

Jakob has done studies for a range of public bodies at international (EU, OECD), national (inter alia UK, Germany, Austria, Ireland) and regional level and has been member of various expert groups at the EU and national level. Recently, he has been witness on public procurement to the House of Lords; his work on demand based policies has been highly influential in the drafting of the latest OECD policy paper on this topic, as well as, a Handbook of Public Procurement of the EU Commission.

Email: jakob.edler@mbs.ac.uk