Quadruple and quintuple innovation helix (Q2IH) framework

The quadruple and quintuple innovation helix framework was co-developed by Elias G. Carayannis and David F.J. Campbell, with the quadruple helix being described in 2009 and the quintuple helix in 2010. Various authors were exploring the concept of a quadruple helix extension to the triple helix model of innovation around the same time. How to define these new helices has been debated and some researchers see them as additional helices while others see them as different types of helix which overarch the previous helices. The Carayannis and Campbell framework aims to bridge the gaps between innovation and users in the form of civil society. The quadruple helix model incorporates the concept of a 'media-based democracy', which emphasizes that when the political system (government) is developing innovation policy to develop the economy, it must adequately communicate its innovation policy with the public via the media to obtain public support for new strategies or policies. In the case of industry involved in R&D, the framework emphasizes that companies' public relations strategies have to negotiate ‘reality construction’ by the media. The quadruple and quintuple helix framework can be described in terms of the models of knowledge that it extends and the five subsystems (helices) it incorporates.
Models of knowledge
The framework involve the extension of previous models of knowledge, specifically mode 1, mode 2, the triple helix, and mode 3:
Mode 1. Mode 1 was theorized by Michael Gibbons and “focuses on the traditional role of university research in an elderly ‘linear model of innovation’ understanding”, and success in mode 1 “is defined as a quality or excellence that is approved by hierarchically established peers”.
Mode 2. Mode 2 was theorized by Michael Gibbons and is characterized by the following five principles: (1) knowledge produced in the context of application; (2) transdisciplinarity; (3) heterogeneity and organizational diversity; (4) social accountability and reflexivity; (5) and quality control.
Triple Helix. The triple helix was first suggested by Henry Etzkowitz and Loet Leydesdorff in 1995. The “Triple Helix overlay provides a model at the level of social structure for the explanation of mode 2 as an historically emerging structure for the production of scientific knowledge, and its relation to Mode 1,” and it is a “model of ‘trilateral networks and hybrid organizations’ of ‘university-industry-government relations’”.
Mode 3. Mode 3 was developed by Elias G. Carayannis and David F.J. Campbell in 2006. Mode 3 emphasizes the coexistence and co-development of diverse knowledge and innovation modes, together with mutual cross-learning between knowledge modes and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge.
The five helices
The most important constituent element of the quintuple helix is knowledge, which, through a circulation between societal subsystems, changes to innovation and know-how in a society and for the economy. The quintuple helix visualizes the collective interaction and exchange of this knowledge in a state by means of five subsystems (i.e., helices): (1) education system, (2) economic system, (3) natural environment, (4) media-based and culture-based public (also ‘civil society’), (5) and the political system. Each of the five helices has an asset at its disposal, with a societal and scientific relevance.
Implications for quality of democracy
The framework has implications for the quality of democracy because it embeds civil society and the media within the helical architecture (government, university, industry, civil society and the environment). Within quintuple helix literature, this is referred to as the ‘democracy of knowledge’. The democracy of knowledge “emphasizes the connections between "political pluralism in advanced democracy, and knowledge and innovation heterogeneity and diversity in advanced economy and society.” It is therefore a form of overlapping of the knowledge economy, the knowledge society and the 'knowledge democracy' and extends the ‘republic of science’ concept put forth by Michael Polanyi.
Quadruple and quintuple helix and policy making
The quadruple helix has been applied to European Union-sponsored projects and policies, including the EU-MACS (EUropean MArket for Climate Services) project, a follow-up project of the European Research and Innovation Roadmap for Climate Services, and the European Commission's Open Innovation 2.0 (OI2) policy for a digital single market that supports open innovation. The quadruple helix has implications for smart co-evolution of regional innovation and institutional arrangements, i.e., regional innovation systems. The quintuple helix has been applied to the 'green new deal'; the quality of democracy, including in innovation systems; international cooperation; forest-based bioeconomies; the Russian Arctic zone energy shelf; regional ecosystems; smart specialization and living labs; and to innovation diplomacy, a quintuple-helix based extension of science diplomacy.

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