SEMINAR: Social Network Analysis and innovation within a CSIRO case study: Examining the strength of weak ties

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Social Network Analysis and innovation within a CSIRO case study: Examining the strength of weak ties - Dr Lyndall Thompson (Institute for Social Research)

Theories of knowledge diffusion have frequently been applied to technological innovation. Whether diffusion theory is appropriate in this context is questioned and it is suggested that science commercialisation is a complex area for which linear diffusion approaches are neither appropriate nor effective for examining knowledge exchange between research and industry network participants. Social network analysis (SNA) is adopted and qualitative analysis employed to show how SNA might be useful to understanding successful innovation pathways. A case study from an Australian public research organisation (PRO), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is examined to show how a network analysis of participants can highlight the entire innovation trajectory taken by a biomedical product developed by CSIRO. The role of ‘weak ties’ as recruiters and key players in moving this product to commercialisation is highlighted.

Lyndal Thompson is a postdoctoral research fellow at both Swinburne University of Technology and the Australian National University. She is investigating the role of social network analysis for understanding knowledge exchange in technological innovation through a partnership between SUT and CSIRO under the Future Manufacturing Flagship. Her role at ANU involves applying social network analysis to understanding the impact of private food standards on Australian horticultural producers. She has previously been employed as a social scientist at the Bureau of Rural Science and the Institute for Rural Futures at the University of New England.

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