CSSInnoRadar
A Computational Social Science Dashboard for Mapping Economic, Political, and Public Discourse on Quantum Technologies in Europe
The aim of the project is to develop a computational social science–based dashboard that systematically maps how quantum technologies are discussed and positioned across economic, political, and public domains.
Duration: 2026–2029
Project acronym: CSSInnoRadar
Project lead: Dr. Wiebke Drews
Project coordinator: Rudolfovo – Science and Technology Centre Novo mesto
Economic partner: Regional Development Centre Novo mesto
Funding: Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS)
Project description
Emerging technologies such as quantum technologies develop under conditions of high uncertainty, where expectations and perceptions shape innovation processes long before concrete applications materialise.
While established indicators, such as patents and scientific publications, capture technological progress, they do not account for how technologies are interpreted, debated, and strategically positioned across society—at a stage when funding and research are already underway, but it remains unclear whether and how applications will emerge.
CSSInnoRadar addresses this gap by analysing how quantum technologies are constructed across three key arenas: public debates, organisational communication (e.g. firms and research institutions), and policy-making. It focuses on whether key stakeholders develop aligned or conflicting interpretations of an emerging technology.
By combining these perspectives, CSSInnoRadar provides a comprehensive understanding of how technological futures are imagined before they are built—and how these dynamics can inform anticipatory innovation governance.
Methodological approach
The project is grounded in computational social science and develops an analytical pipeline for large-scale communication data, drawing on methods from Natural Language Processing (NLP) and network analysis.
It integrates multilingual datasets (Slovene, English, German) from social media into a unified analytical framework and operationalises them through a dashboard-based monitoring tool.
Key objectives and outcomes
· Develop a conceptual framework for analysing innovation discourse, contributing to a better understanding of how emerging technologies are interpreted and positioned,
· Build an analytical pipeline for analysing discourse across different arenas (public, economic, policy-makers), enabling the systematic integration of large-scale communication data,
· Design and implement a prototype CSSInnoRadar dashboard for monitoring discourse dynamics,
· Identify alignment, tensions, and blind spots across economic, political, and public actors, generating evidence-based insights for policy-makers, industry, and research organisations.
Regional relevance
CSSInnoRadar is designed to be closely connected to regional needs and innovation activities.
The project engages with regional stakeholders to better understand their perspectives and ensure that these are reflected in the development of the dashboard.
Slovenia serves as a test environment for applying and refining the approach, with the aim of strengthening regional innovation capacity and enabling transferability to broader European contexts.ogočanja prenosa rešitve v širši evropski prostor.