CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL INNOVATION MANAGEMENT IN MISSION-ORIENTED STATE POLICY

<jats:p>The article provides a theoretical and methodological substantiation of the concept of Social Innovation Management (SIM) as a coordination mechanism within the system of state Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy (MOIPs) in Ukraine. The necessity of transitioning to targeted financing of socially significant strategic goals is substantiated. The evolution of the mission-oriented innovation concept is traced as a means to synchronize efforts aimed at innovative development, enabling the direction of private capital toward achieving national strategic goals. Grounded in Mariana Mazzucato’s "Entrepreneurial State" concept, Smart Specialization (S3), and Open Innovation 2.0, Social Innovation Management is defined as a holistic paradigm that ensures the alignment of national missions with societal needs, guaranteeing social cohesion, resource allocation legitimacy, and institutional sustainability of innovative development. It is demonstrated that SIM integrates technological developments with societal needs, generates trust, reduces transaction costs, and grants public legitimacy to large-scale innovative transformations. Five key missions within the Horizon Europe program (2021–2027) to be implemented by 2030 are presented. The role of social capital as an institutional infrastructure that catalyzes interaction among actors within the Quadruple Helix model (state, business, academia, and civil society) is revealed. In the context of the Law of Ukraine No. 3534-IX, the reform of the scientific and innovation priority system and the transition to foresight studies are analyzed. A triad of strategic national missions is proposed: the DefenseTech Cluster (an autonomous ecosystem of defense technologies), the Green Recovery Cluster (decentralized energy and green reconstruction), and the Human Capital &amp; MedTech Cluster (digital rehabilitation and human capital preservation), along with their comprehensive characterization within Ukraine’s mission-oriented innovation policy framework. The expediency of introducing a social audit of missions to ensure transparency and sustained social consensus is substantiated.</jats:p>