Translation of innovation systems into industrial policy : the healthcare sector in Australia

As the dynamics of innovation systems vary greatly between industries, policy-makers need to find specific critical points where their actions can encourage development. This paper uses a study of the Australian healthcare system to illustrate how a policy-relevant analytical template can both analyze innovation and suggest areas for effective innovation policy action in both public and private industrial arenas. Using a "complex social product system" approach, the paper deconstructs a highly complex system to show its capacity to be a driver in innovation in a wide variety of industrial and service input fields. Producing policies which have a focus on industry development and innovation means looking at the healthcare system as a product system, not a health provision system per se, and then analyzing the sub-systems in detail. Health policy-makers typically do not approach the system in this spirit.