New Journal at Mason invites innovators to describe in their own words how they brought concepts into practice.

We recently sat down with Dr. Phil Auerswald, Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Science & Technology Policy in the School of Public Policy at Mason. Dr. Auerswald is Editor of the journal, Innovations.

Thank you for your time, Dr. Auerswald. How did the journal, Innovations, get started?

I conceived the journal initially in March 2001 when I was a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The idea from the outset was to create a journal that would address policy issues related to technology. The journal was to be hosted by the Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs where I held an appointment as a research fellow.

The concept took a major step forward when Iqbal Quadir consented to join me as a co-editor of the journal. Iqbal was already well known at that time as the founder of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh; he recently has earned additional recognition with his appointment as the Executive Director of MIT's new Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. Once Iqbal joined Innovations, he and I, along with our colleague Winthrop Carty, reconsidered the focus of the journal. We jointly came to the conclusion the need in the market was not for another journal about what needs to be done, but instead for a journal about what people are actually doing. So rather than take a 30-thousand foot view of global challenges like the existing policy journals, we would start "on the ground," inviting successful (and unsuccessful) innovators to describe in their own words how they brought their concepts into practice. That has been our goal.

While planning for the journal was still in formative stages, I had the good fortune to be able to join the faculty of the School of Public Policy at GMU, with an appointment as the Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP). So, from its launch, the journal has been co-hosted at the School of Public Policy and Harvard's Kennedy School.

We noticed that Innovations is organized into five sections: Lead essays, Cases Authored by Innovators, Analysis, and Perspectives on Policy, Letters. What is the advantage to organizing the journal in this manner? What do you hope to achieve?

The idea is really to begin with practical solutions to public challenges, and from there consider the broader context. So the Cases Authored by Innovators are exactly that: case narratives written by the people who actually did the work to make the innovation happen. Importantly, each of those case narratives is complemented by at least one commentary by an academic authority on the domain of the innovation. We ask these "case discussants" to consider the nature and extent of the innovation, as well as its implications in other domains. Their insights typically add a great deal to the readers' understanding of the case.

The articles in the Analysis section take a slightly broader view, considering more general questions such as the societal context for innovation, the measurement of impacts, and categories of tools and approaches employed by successful innovators. Finally, the articles in the Perspectives on Policy section take that 30-thousand foot view, considering how policy can help support innovation, as well as how policy-makers can be innovators themselves.

The lead essays that open each issue feature viewpoints on technology, governance, and globalization authored by thought-leaders from various domains. To date our lead essay authors have included such eminent figures as John Holdren (outgoing President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the chair of the Innovations advisory board), Rita Colwell (former director of the National Science Foundation), Klaus Schwabb (founder of the World Economic Forum and host to that organization's annual meeting in Davos), and Fazle Abed (founder of BRAC Center). Our upcoming special issue on global public health will feature remarks by Bill Gates as delivered at Harvard's commencement in June, accompanied by commentaries from Lawrence Summer (former President of Harvard), Laurie Garrett (a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations), and others. The letters are responses to articles published previously. In an issue last year we were honored to feature a letter to Innovations from Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, responding to the lead essay in the prior issue by John Holdren.

Some folks might look at this publication and say it is purely "academic" in nature. However, when we read through the latest issue it was clear that the journal is directed towards policy makers, corporate decision makers, and the economic development community. How--and why--are you seeking to strike this balance between practical content and academic format?

Let me start with how. The answer there is simple: We make editorial quality our number one priority. So this is a very readable journal. The look and feel are modeled after Foreign Affairs. We work with very skilled editors, and take a lot of time with our authors to make sure that ideas as accessible to general readers, even as we do not compromise on analytic rigor.

As for the why, the answer is that we are trying to create a bridge between scholarship and practice. We can't do that as a standard academic journal, but we also can't do that as a blog or a magazine. Feel-good stories about innovation and innovators are not in short supply. Even the best journalistic accounts really only get to the surface of conceptual elements of innovations, and the complexities of the processes in question.

As Bill Gate eloquently describes in the comments that will appear in our next issue, only a small share of the resources (human and other) of the world's leading institutions of learning are directed toward finding solutions to the planet's most pressing problems. Substantially increasing this share will require a long-term commitment and the localized leadership of many, both inside and outside academia. In launching Innovations as a research journal published by a leading university press, we sought additionally to contribute to the redirection of academic resources toward urgent public challenges in two ways: (1) by providing scholars with an outlet for their work on practical solutions; and (2) by making available to academics the significant insights of practitioners, thereby enhancing the quality of both scholarship and strategic thinking by all parties.

What are some of the issues that have been raised in recent editions of the journal?

Since I am the editor, you'll expect me to say that we have had some really fabulous content in our first two years. Well, the fact is, we have. Really amazing stuff. In the issue now being printed, Cory Ondrejka, the CTO of Second Life and one of its co-founders, writes about the implications of virtual worlds for the geography of innovation and the very concept of national sovereignty. If you are in the business of economic development, it is not an exaggeration to say that you can not afford to miss the line of argument Cory presents in this paper--all the more so if you aren't already familiar with Second Life (see www.secondlife.com). There are many other outstanding contributions in the rest of the special issue on collaborative innovation and collective intelligence--too many for me detail here. But I really urge your readers to take a look.

Earlier issues are just a rich with first rate content. In our inaugural issue Martin Fisher wrote about KickStart, the organization he found in Kenya with his partner Nick Moon 15 years ago. Since its founding, KickStart has created entrepreneurial opportunities among people in the poor rural regions in Kenya that in total have added 1/2% to Kenyan GDP. In another issue, an author from Finland detailed the first and only instance of a process by which a municipality voluntarily accepted the citing of a facility to dispose of nuclear waste. If you follow the particulars of strategies to deal with climate change, you'll understand exactly why this is a big deal.

The reality is that, once you start to look for practical solutions to global challenges, you rapidly come across some truly remarkable cases. That has been our experience, at any rate. A few such cases are right in our backyard: look for the articles in upcoming issues of Innovations written by GMU professors Robin Hanson (about the Policy Analysis Market) and Abul Hussam (about Sono filters). These are members of the GMU community who have received national and international recognition for their practical innovations. For us to be able convey their stories in this journal is really an honor.

How does one subscribe? Is the journal available only in print or can folks obtain electronic copies?

The journal is available in both print and electronic versions. Since we are seeking a broad readership for this journal, we have limited the individual subscription price to a modest $50/year for both print and electronic versions; only $26/year for students

• The URL for the journal at MIT Press is: http://mitpress.mit.edu/innovations
• The journal's home web site at George Mason University is: http://innovations.gmu.edu/

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