Rethinking Innovation Communication 2024

Symposium on Research and Practice of Innovation Communication in Public Relations, Public Affairs & Marketing for Technological and Social Innovations.

 

Innovations are a decisive factor, especially in phases of social, economic and technical development (Mast and Spachmann 2021) and above all in phases of transformation. The fact that communication, discourse and deliberation have a decisive influence on innovations is currently less in focus. Both technical and social innovations are enabled, prepared, changed and disseminated in discourses through communication. Technology fields are constructed discursively (Schaper-Rinkel 2010), markets for innovations are prepared communicatively (Banholzer 2018) and social innovations also require communication in order to take shape. The establishment of innovation agencies such as SPRIND or DATI in Germany underline the relevance of innovations for both the technical and social spheres (Banholzer 2024). However, the concepts for these intermediaries in the field of research and innovation lack an institutional anchoring of innovation communication that goes beyond the pure media work of the organization. What is needed here are analyses and proposals from the fields of communication, economics and political science that deal specifically with best practice, strategies and theoretical concepts. After communication science's preoccupation with innovation communication in the early 2000s (cf. Zerfaß and Möslein 2009, Huck 2007, Waldherr 2012), research interest is currently less pronounced, although research on innovation communication and the systematization of strategic concepts of innovation communication continue to show desiderata (Krugsberger 2019). More recent aspects of constructive innovation communication, communication from the perspective of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and research into the gender aspects of innovation are also still in their initial stages. These desiderata, current concepts and research approaches for perspectives on innovation communication and their business and economic, political and social relevance are the subject of the symposium "Rethinking Innovation Communication".

 

When: 5 - 6 June 2024 (with evening event on 5 June)

Where: at the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm  (hosted by the master's degree programme in Innovation Communication)

Who: researchers from communication and political science, marketing, economics and business administration, practitioners from agencies, think tanks and consulting firms.

What: identification of research and practical perspectives on the basis of previous results from the communication, economic and social sciences as well as the evaluation of campaigns and concepts from agency and corporate practice.

How: Symposium and workshop followed by an anthology.

 

Details and the Call for Participation as well as the planned time frame can be found in the marked tabs.

If you have any questions or would like to participate in the symposium, please contact Prof. Volker M. Banholzer

The symposium Rethinking Innovation Communication 2024 on research and practice of innovation communication in public relations, public affairs & marketing for technological and social innovations will take place on Wednesday, 5 June and Thursday, 6 June 2024, at the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm, Keßlerplatz 12 - 90489 Nuremberg.

Timeline:

  • Call for Participation - March 2024
  • Submissions accepted until 10 May 2024
  • Notification of participants and programme - 15 May 2024
  • Symposium - 5/6 June 2024

Schedule of the symposium:

  • Wednesday, 5 June 2024, 1.00 pm - Welcome Coffee
  • Wednesday, 5 June 2024, 2.00 to 6.00 pm - Symposium and Workshops I
  • Wednesday, 5 June 2024, 7.00 to 8.30 pm - Evening Programme

Rethinking Innovation Communication 2024  - Symposium on Research and Practice of Innovation Communication in Public Relations, Public Affairs & Marketing for Technological and Social Innovations.

 

Brief description:

Innovations are a decisive factor, especially in phases of social, economic and technical development  and above all in phases of transformation. The fact that communication, discourse and deliberation have a decisive influence on innovations is currently less in focus. Both technical and social innovations are made possible, prepared, changed and disseminated in discourses through communication. The establishment of the innovation agencies of the Cyber Agency, SPRIND and DATI has given the field renewed importance, especially as the DATI concept emphasizes social innovation and civil society as an actor.

The symposium is intended to help define the state of current research on innovation communication in an interdisciplinary manner and in dialogue with the practice of corporate and organizational communication in associations, companies, organizations and agencies as well as consulting firms and to jointly define perspectives of the field. In addition to the topics of technical innovation and communication of applied research, the very young field of social innovation and its social discourses are of particular interest. The areas of communication from the perspective of responsible research and innovation, constructive technology assessment and the gender perspective of innovation will also be explored.

The symposium is intended to provide an impetus to (re)define the research field of innovation communication and the practice of innovation communication and to provide impulses for further activities. The results of Rethinking Innovation Communication 2024 will also be made available to the public as an anthology following the symposium.

We are looking for contributions from researchers, including young academics, as well as practitioners from agencies, think tanks, companies and associations. 

 

You can find the full Call for Participation here: Call Rethink InnoCom24