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Course Home•Module 5 of 16

Framing Applied Innovation & Permissionless Innovation

Innovation does not happen in a vacuum - it plays out in a real world of markets, societies, and rules. This module frames the landscape of applied business innovation and examines one of the most consequential ideas about how innovation reaches the world: Permissionless Innovation - the principle that transformative innovation flourishes most when innovators are free to experiment without asking permission first.

Quick poll

Should new, potentially transformative technologies be allowed to launch first and be regulated later, or approved before launch?

Pick the answer that fits you best - there's no wrong choice.

Landscape

The bigger picture

Permissionless

Freedom to try

Regulation

The tension

Uber

A real trial

Learning objectives

After completing this module, you'll be able to:

  • Frame innovation within its wider market, social, and regulatory landscape
  • Explain the principle of Permissionless Innovation and its rationale
  • Contrast permissionless with the precautionary (permissioned) approach
  • Understand how regulation can both enable and impede innovation
  • Analyse a real case where a permissive stance allowed transformative innovation

In this module

Sources & Further Reading

  • •Thierer, A., Permissionless Innovation, Mercatus Center (GMU), 2016.
  • •PermissionlessInnovation.org - reference resources.
  • •Global Innovation Institute (GInI), Foundations of Innovation body of knowledge.
  • •OECD, reports on regulation and emerging technology governance.

Units in This Module