In the face of today’s pressing societal challenges, mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs) offer a strategic approach to achieve transformative goals. OECD ’s Mission Community of Practice, a network of policymakers and practitioners, is collaboratively developing capacity on frameworks that support effective missions. This article explores key themes regarding missions emerging from recent topics especially focusing on mission portfolio management.

A mission (picture 1), in the context of public policy and innovation, is a structured, goal-driven initiative aimed at tackling complex societal challenges, such as climate change, digital transformation, or public health. Unlike traditional policies, missions focus on achieving specific, ambitious, and time-bound outcomes. They bring together a diverse group of actors—including governments, industries, academia, and civil society—who collaborate across sectors to solve issues that no single organisation could address alone (Larrue 2021; Larrue et al. 2024).

Missions operate as coordinated policy packages, designed to steer research, development, and innovation toward impactful solutions that serve the public good. They emphasize flexibility, allowing goals and strategies to adapt as new insights emerge. Through clear objectives and collective action, missions create a framework that supports innovation and promotes systemic change, moving beyond incremental improvements to foster meaningful, large-scale transformations (Larrue 2021; Larrue et al. 2024).

The approach has gained popularity because it directly targets societal issues, aligns resources and expertise, and fosters cross-sector collaboration, making it especially suitable for addressing today’s interconnected and long-term global challenges (Larrue et al. 2024).

Laurea’s thematic team on innovation management and ecosystems which I coordinate focuses on fostering ecosystemic collaboration to address complex societal challenges. Mission-oriented innovation policy aligns with this goal by providing a structured approach to orchestrate multi-actor networks and tackle wicked problems, advancing both practical and strategic capabilities in ecosystem design and governance.

OECD Mission Community of Practice Sessions

As a participant of the intergovernmental Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Mission Community of Practice (CoP), I had the opportunity to join a series of events focused on the intricacies of mission-oriented approaches. The community, a global network of over 250 mission practitioners, offers a collaborative platform to explore the design, governance, and implementation of missions aimed at addressing complex societal challenges.

The OECD’s Mission-oriented Innovation Policy (MOIP) Online Toolkit is a comprehensive resource designed to support policymakers and practitioners in the development and implementation of mission-oriented innovation policies. This toolkit provides practical guidance, case studies, and tools for addressing complex societal challenges through a mission-driven approach. With sections on governance, stakeholder engagement, and monitoring and evaluation, the MOIP Toolkit serves as an accessible, dynamic platform for learning and applying mission-oriented principles. (OECD n.d.) It complements the efforts of the CoP, equipping members with actionable insights and frameworks that enhance their capacity to drive systemic change.

The CoP organized a series of sessions designed to explore critical components of MOIPs and to support practitioners in implementing and evaluating mission-driven approaches. Each session provided insights into facets such as the governance, practices, and challenges associated with missions, focusing on various aspects of design, implementation, and monitoring.

The first session, ”Mission – Why and When?”, explored the distinct principles of mission-oriented innovation, addressing criteria for selecting topics and aligning mission goals with societal needs. This session set the stage for subsequent, focused discussions on mission implementation. In the second session, ”Missions for Climate,” the CoP examined climate-related challenges, discussing resource mobilization and partnership strategies to drive climate action. Case studies highlighted mission-driven approaches’ potential to catalyze impactful environmental solutions.

The third session, ”Mission Practices in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs),” addressed the specific challenges of implementing missions in LMICs. Discussions emphasized the need for inclusive frameworks to engage stakeholders and leverage local resources. ”Mission Governance,” the focus of the fourth session, examined governance structures that support mission success through cross-sector coordination and accountability. Effective governance aligns diverse efforts toward shared goals, making it central to mission success.

The fifth session, ”Monitoring and Evaluation of Missions,” explored tailored evaluation frameworks for capturing the systemic impacts of mission-oriented innovation. Tools like the ”mission-readiness” assessment were introduced to measure mission-specific value. The sixth session, ”Mission Portfolio Management” addressed strategies for managing multiple missions within cohesive portfolios. The session highlighted resource allocation, synergy creation, and risk management as key factors in enhancing the strategic coherence of mission-driven efforts.

Effective governance, strategic portfolio management, and robust evaluation are foundational to MOIPs. These elements ensure that missions not only align with societal goals but are also adaptable, coordinated, and impactful over time (Larrue 2021; Larrue et al. 2024). The CoP has emphasized these components across multiple sessions, underscoring their role in the success of mission-driven approaches.

Mission Portfolios for Managing Impact

Mission Portfolio Management (MPM) was a specific topic of interest to me because of my past and ongoing work on innovation portfolios as an approach for ecosystemic innovation management (Seppälä 2021). Portfolio management in MOIPs involves coordinating multiple projects and interventions within a unified mission framework. Missions often include a range of projects, from technological development to policy implementation, each contributing to the overarching mission goal. Effective portfolio management aligns these projects, ensuring that resources are strategically allocated and projects are coordinated to maximize impact and reduce redundancy. (Larrue et al. 2024.)

This approach fosters synergies among projects and enables mission leaders to prioritize interventions that drive systemic change. By managing missions as portfolios, policymakers can also distribute risk across various initiatives and optimize outcomes across different phases of the innovation cycle. Portfolio management encourages a holistic perspective, helping mission teams to explore diverse pathways and alternative solutions. (Larrue et al. 2024.) The sixth CoP session on MPM on 12.11.2024 featured a number of interesting talks and cases on the topic featuring Piret Tõnurist and Amelia Olsen-Boyd.

Piret Tõnurist, Innovation Lead at the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, highlighted the emerging field of MPM as a crucial yet still-developing component in MOIPs. Unlike traditional project management, Tõnurist explained that MPM encompasses all actions and activities contributing to the mission’s broader objectives, making it the ”engine” that drives systemic change. Effective MPM requires a multi-pronged approach to generate synergies, manage risks, and support continuous decision-making, allowing for adaptive prioritization, testing, and learning as missions evolve. According to Tõnurist, the practice of MPM is transitioning from simply identifying and organizing activities within “ex-ante” portfolios to a proactive framework that mobilizes resources and aligns efforts to ensure mission success. She outlined three core components of effective MPM: developing the portfolio based on the mission’s theory of change, managing interlinkages within the portfolio, and monitoring the portfolio’s overall progress toward mission objectives. Tõnurist emphasized that successful MPM requires empowering portfolio managers with new tools, pragmatic processes, and an openness to experimentation and risk, reinforcing the strategic coherence of mission-oriented efforts. (Tõnurist 2024.)

Amelia Olsen-Boyd, the Executive Manager of Mission Innovation and Strategy at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, provided insights into CSIRO’s approach to MPM. She emphasized that missions, especially those addressing complex challenges like achieving net-zero emissions, require a well-structured portfolio to create systemic impact. Olsen-Boyd explained that CSIRO’s mission framework focuses on tracking and enhancing portfolio impact through four key areas: coherence, capability, risk mitigation, and consolidation. (Olsen-Boyd 2024.)

The four areas outlined by Olsen-Boyd are tied to specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that guide activities and assess progress, from influencing decision-making in the transition to net-zero (coherence) to managing partnerships and projects that drive innovation (capability). Olsen-Boyd highlighted the importance of mobilizing stakeholders and developing pathways that align with Australia’s national priorities, advocating for a ”nested” portfolio structure where interconnected activities are governed collaboratively to tackle the complexities of climate action. This approach enables scalability, adaptability, and a continuous feedback loop, essential for fostering innovation and achieving substantial societal shifts. (Olsen-Boyd 2024.)

MPM is becoming an essential tool within the CoP, enabling practitioners to align multiple initiatives for maximum impact. As mission-oriented policies grow in complexity, effective portfolio management will be crucial in ensuring that these ambitious efforts deliver lasting, systemic change .

References

• Larrue, P. 2021. The design and implementation of mission-oriented innovation policies: A new systemic policy approach to address societal challenges. OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers, No. 100. OECD Publishing: Paris. Available: https://doi.org/10.1787/3f6c76a4-en
• Larrue, P., Tõnurist, P. & Jonason, D. 2024. Monitoring and evaluation of mission-oriented innovation policies: From theory to practice. OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 2024/09. OECD Publishing: Paris. Available: https://doi.org/10.1787/5e4c3204-en.
• OECD. N.d. Mission-oriented Innovation Policy Online Toolkit. WWW-page. Available: https://stip.oecd.org/moip/
• Olsen-Boyd, A. 2024. Managing Mission-Driven Innovation Portfolios for Societal Challenges. Presentation at OECD Mission Community of Practice 12.11.2024.
• Seppälä, M. 2021. Radical uncertainty requires radical collaboration – Stepping stones towards systems transformation with innovation portfolios. Sitra Publications. Available: https://www.sitra.fi/en/publications/radical-uncertainty-requires-radical-collaboration/
• Tõnurist, P. 2024. Mission Portfolio Management: Strategies for Systemic Impact. Presentation at OECD Mission Community of Practice 12.11.2024.