Reimagining Innovation Systems in the COVID and Post-COVID World

Book excerpt: Countries around the world are working to counter the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their healthcare systems, economies, and industries. This book brings together strategies for the adoption of new technologies and innovation systems which would help re-invigorate social and economic institutions and help communities, especially in the Global South. The book focuses on innovation systems that address health and socioeconomic inequalities in countries such as India, Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, and others. It looks into the responses of different countries to the shocks inflicted on the economy and health systems by the pandemic from the perspective of government institutions as well as businesses, industries, and communities. The pandemic forced many organizations to embrace various innovative strategies to contain the spread of COVID-19 and ameliorate the lives of people including employees, people from marginalized communities, and low-income groups who have suffered due to the disease. The chapters in this book study innovative interventions and community-based measures which reached many people and paved the way for policies which helped rebuild communities sustainably. The volume also analyses how these newly created and streamlined health and economic innovation systems will be carried forward in the post-COVID-19 world to address weaknesses in health and governance and address inequalities, especially for countries in the Global South. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of economics, political economy, health and economics, development studies, public policy, and sociology.