Priority-Setting in Science, Technology and Innovation

Despite the growing expenditure of R&D caused the development of a knowledge-based approach to economic development, no country is able to research on the edge of science and technology in all areas of research, due to the increasing diversity and the nature of the interdisciplinary activities of research and innovation and thus, priority-setting has a significant role in science, technology, and innovation policy. In this research, various dimensions (definitions, types, theoretical models, process, history, challenges and methods) of STI priority-setting have been studied. Then, Smart Specialization has been introduced as the most up-to-date strategy based on the STI priority-setting, and in the end the prioritizing experience in Iran’s comprehensive scientific map has been evaluated with a critical approach. The study indicates that all mechanisms for priority-setting are used simultaniously according to the path-dependency of priority formation, the historical stickiness of institutions, and the diffrentiated rationales behind government interventions; and the problem is the combination pattern of mechanisms. However, the overall structure of priority-setting among different countries is converging to re-emphasizing on functional priorities, systematic approach to strategy and prioritization, combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches, and division of work among various actors involving in the priority-setting proccess.