AUERSWALD’S NEW JOURNAL: INNOVATIONS

As of this month, SPP is home to a new journal, Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization, about how people use technology to address global challenges. The journal is co-edited by SPP Assistant Professor Philip Auerswald, the Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy, and Iqbal Quadir, founding Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Program in Developmental Entrepreneurship. The journal is published by MIT Press; co-hosted by the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; and supported in part by George Mason’s Center for Global Studies. The journal’s advisory and editorial boards include the current President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (John Holdren, who chairs the advisory board), two former U.S. Presidential Science Advisors, a former NASA Administrator, four SPP faculty members and globally recognized leaders in social entrepreneurship.

"In contrast with most policy journals," says Auerswald, "Innovations is less about what needs to be done and more about what people are doing. It is intended to complement existing journals by cutting across academic disciplines and linking human action with global impact."

Innovations also aspires to affect the manner in which academic institutions address policy issues. "Beyond core missions in education and knowledge creation, large universities like George Mason are increasingly expected to drive economic development and find solutions to complex social challenges such as global climate change and persistent poverty," Auerswald observes. "In this context, universities are arguably most effective not when they push internal expertise, but rather when they build and sustain open platforms to inform and connect people whose collective understanding can lead to lasting solutions. Ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do with this journal."

Philip Auerswald

The publishing house behind Innovations is enthusiastic about the launch. "As a university press, we are committed to exploring new fields and modes of inquiry," says Rebecca McLeod, journals manager for MIT Press. "Innovations will do exactly that: inform and report on technological happenings around the world, and initiate conversations between the people creating change and the people evaluating effects. We're excited about our new partnership, and feel it is a great addition to our evolving list of creative and challenging journals."

Each issue of Innovations will be comprised of four distinct sections. The first will consist of an essay written by a prominent figure addressing technology and governance in the global context; the second, of analyses of innovations in practice; the third, of policy-relevant research articles that analyze technology and governance; and the fourth, of perspectives on policy. One of the articles in the inaugural issue is "How is Entrepreneurship Good for Economic Growth?" by SPP Professor Zoltan Acs. Among the topics explored in other articles are the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; international cooperation to secure nuclear stockpiles; and the effect of a non-profit organization in Kenya whose foot-pumps have been used by poor farmers to generate new business worth 0.5% the country’s GDP. A Chinese edition of Innovations is slated to appear in the fall of 2006, and the editorial team is currently seeking a publisher for an African edition.

Auerswald, a founding co-editor of the journal, is an economist whose work focuses on the interaction between technological and organizational change. He has been a consultant to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

To learn more about him, visit his web page, http://policy.gmu.edu/faculty/auerswald/. For more about Innovations, visit the journal’s site at http://policy.gmu.edu/innovations/. The full text of the inaugural issue is available at http://mitpress.mit.edu/innovations.