Innovation measurement and transformative social change

Abstract

This chapter traces trends in the field of innovation measurement as it adapts to changing conceptualizations of innovation and of conditions of countries in the global South. Using the example of the measurement of innovation in the informal sector in South Africa, the chapter reflects on how African researchers have taken on the challenge. It describes experimentation with novel participatory methodologies, grounded in the lived realities of social actors that have been traditionally marginalized from formal systems of innovation, from the formal economy, and from decision-making processes. The main contribution is to demonstrate the value and limitations of this approach for the field of innovation measurement for directing and assessing progress towards transformative social change.