Strategic Innovation Policy (SIP) emphasizes the importance of embedding innovation policy decisions (broadly defined to include science, technology, higher education policy, and policies to promote entrepreneurship and venture capital) within a fixed, knowledge-based strategic system. Creating a vision, identifying priority areas, and establishing a coherent set of priorities must occur before the design and implementation of operational policy—and even serve as its foundation. The need or rationale for a Strategic Innovation Policy (SIP) lies in Metcalfe’s “adaptive policymaker,” who must operate in a world of extreme uncertainty. We present in detail a system based on two policy institutions operating at the highest level of government: the Strategic Innovation Council, which is inter-ministerial, apolitical, independent, and knowledge-oriented, tasked with orchestrating the process of vision creation and priority setting, and an inter-ministerial, politically-oriented council responsible for budget allocations and coordination. The impact of the Strategic Innovation Policy depends on maintaining a degree of separation between knowledge and politics.
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