Tech Sovereignty and Industrial Ecosystems

Theories of ecosystems in economic or business research are rarely considered from a perspective, in which these network constructs of inter-organisational relationships are influenced by policy initiatives and instruments – not just individual efforts of actors from within the ecosystem. In the geoeconomic context, the concept of “technological sovereignty” has been proposed as a framework for innovation policy, which could be a legitimate political objective if higher prosperity can be achieved. The research combines conceptual and empirical research on “policy-driven industrial ecosystems” that are embedded in such a competitive geoeconomic environment. A central thesis was developed from the synthesis of either concepts, suggesting that industrial ecosystems can be driven by policy and government interventions in a polity to achieve greater technological sovereignty. The dissertation topic thus aims to fill a research gap at the intersection of the fields strategic management, public policy, and international relations.