Training for innovation in Spain

The capacity for innovation of an organisation largely depends on its ability to acquire and develop new knowledge. Training is particularly important in this process, as it allows employees to constantly acquire new competences. This study provides a preliminary picture of the situation of training for innovation in Spain, and identifies the characteristics of companies offering training for innovation. Results show that 35.3% of Spanish companies undertake innovation processes and 22.3% offer training related to these innovation processes. For the 82% of these companies training helped the innovation process, so training is an important tool for innovative change

Localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals in an emerging nation

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed to by all member countries of the United Nations, require urgent action on the world's most pressing problems. Success requires bottom-up participation of local stakeholders. This case study of Timor-Leste—a fledgling, fossil fuel-supported economy—maps the awareness and commitment of grassroots stakeholders to the SDGs and the roadblocks to localisation. Guiding this paper is Habermas’ view of societal evolution and communicative action, which aids analysing the socio-political and structural dynamics affecting SDGs localisation in a developing nation. This study reveals stakeholder inability to articulate a clear vision for the SDGs, lack of human capital and funds, a weak public-administrative system, strong socio-political nuances, and poor governance infrastructure to support multi-stakeholder relationships. This paper provides insights for developing a more nuanced and robust public intervention to support local stakeholders that will enable knowledge, cultural and communication transformations required for successful SDGs localisation. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Key Public Sector Individuals as ICT Change Agents: An Analysis of Australian and German Experience

The increasing demand for technology-enabled public sector services drives state agencies to launch information and communication technology (ICT) projects. The Australian and German state agencies are taking a proactive role towards technological change by employing so-called ICT change agents. These ICT change agents introduce, diffuse, manage and implement ICT within projects. Despite the mobilisation of change agents, there is scant research on the formal and informal roles of these key individuals within public sector projects. This article bridges that gap by providing valuable insights into the activities of public sector ICT change agents. It is based on empirical research from six case studies in Australian and German state agencies. Findings from these studies indicate that public sector ICT change agents position organisations to take advantage of cutting edge technologies by performing a great variety of formal and informal roles. Formal roles are performed in order to accomplish set formal project tasks, while informal roles help to speed up rapid ICT adoption and innovation through the change agents’ informal networks. The findings are delineated in a framework for future research which shows that formal and informal roles impact on the outcomes of public sector ICT projects

Tax policy and innovation: A search for common ground

The paper is motivated by a desire to find common ground between mainstream and post-Keynesian approaches to fiscal policy. A post-Keynesian approach with origins in Kalecki offers a promising line of enquiry which is developed here. The paper identifies the principal differences between the Keynesian and Kaleckian approaches. The possibilities are explored of finding accommodation between the mainstream and Kaleckian approaches to the taxation of greenhouse gases. The macroeconomic implications of taxing greenhouse gases are identified. However, these may be thwarted by the emergence of 'political aspects of innovation', akin to Kalecki's 'political aspects of full employment'. A Kaleckian balanced budget approach allied to fiscal incentives to innovate offers some prospect of common ground with the mainstream.tax policy, innovation, greenhouse gases, post-Keynesian mainstream