Towards a holistic innovation policy: Can the Swedish National Innovation Council (NIC) be a role model?

A holistic innovation policy is defined in this article as a policy that integrates all public actions that influence or may influence innovation processes. The Swedish National Innovation Council (NIC) was created by the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, in February 2015. It is personally chaired by the prime minister. Another atypical characteristic of the Swedish NIC is that it has a dominant and wide focus on innovation policy. In other countries, such councils focus predominantly on science and/or research policy and treat innovation policy, if at all, as an “appendix” to research policy. The purpose of this article is to answer the following four questions: 1. Has Swedish innovation policy recently become more holistic? 2. Has the Swedish National Innovation Council (NIC) had a role in the transition towards a holistic innovation policy? 3. Have conceptual specifications and advancements played a role in the changes in Swedish innovation policy? 4. Can the Swedish NIC serve as a role model for other countries and regions in their attempts to initiate and govern a holistic innovation policy?