Innovation, poverty, and Inequality: Cause, Consequence, or Co-evolution

Innovation – doing new things in new ways – holds the potential for great benefits to humanity. In its current institutional configuration, however, those benefits go primarily to affluent consumers and countries, and very seldom to low-income households or communities. While inequality between countries is decreasing, measured by average incomes, inequality within countries is increasing, and the global level of inequality at household level is barely changing. Could innovation be directed to inclusive development? This lecture will illustrate both challenges and pathways to spreading the benefits of innovation more broadly.

About Susan Cozzens

Susan E. Cozzens is Associate Dean for Research in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, and a professor in the School of Public Policy. She has been active in science and innovation policy for over 25 years. She served the U.S. National Science Foundation as a policy analyst and later Director of the Office of Policy Support and member of the senior leadership team. She has consulted widely within the United States and around the world on science and innovation policy issues. She is past editor of Research Evaluation and Science, Technology, & Human Values, and senior consulting editor for Science and Public Policy. She has published over fifty articles and book chapters and authored or edited five books. Her current research is on innovation and inequality, with a focus on science and innovation policies in developing countries.