The innovation systems approach is by now a well-established framework for innovation analysis and policy making, but with some heterogeneity remaining between the various interpretations and uses. At the micro-theoretical level, there is still some uncertainly as to what makes up the essence of innovation systems, being sectoral, regional or national.
This paper seeks to contribute to our understandings of innovation system dynamics pointing to the need to look into how innovation systems form and transform rather than perform. The paper suggests a strong paradigmatic approach to the study of innovation systems by analysing path creation dynamics. A Penrosian inspired frame is suggested. By combining the analysis of attention rules and search rules we get a more full explanation of how positive and negative heuristics are formed and consequently how technological trajectories evolve, become embedded in and come to constitute central elements of innovation systems.
Using nanotechnology as a case the paper focuses on analysing boundary spanning effects associated with the rise of this general purpose technology. Based on early Danish findings the paper seeks to capture possible changes in the knowledge base and search modes related to the rise of nanotechnology.
The very early nanotechnological development stage means that it is too early to detect sectoral patterns in the industrial uptake. However, clearly the innovation system is already “seeding” trajectories, path dependence is established and directions are set meaning that the potentially pervasive boundary spanning effects in nanotechnology are more uneven than could be expected.