This special issue intends to explore and fuel current debate on the role technological innovation, as well as social innovation, is playing or could play in developing countries to foster social inclusion, the alleviation of poverty, and the reduction of inequality.The focus is on the extent to which local public policies are explicitly contributing to these goals.Claims for a more responsive role of governments to address long-standing problems affecting the most vulnerable population in developing countries are on the rise due to a generalized perception, unjustified or not, that policy makers are not paying enough attention to what the knowledge society entails and has to offer and on the ways it could be operationalized in order to meet basic needs.Economic growth coexists with increasing inequality.Furthermore, innovation can be linked to increasing inequalities at all levels. 1 This is not only true for the developing world but also for developed countries, which could learn from ongoing efforts to address the challenges in the former countries.In spite of incommensurable differences between the way innovation processes occur in developed and developing countries, the functioning of the systems, the markets, the demand for innovation, and the role of the state, common questions arise in the quest for models and answers: Why does inequality increase and how could innovation contribute to close the gap of inequality and lead to social inclusion?What happens with the conceptual, theoretical, and/or policy models that are in place?What models would better serve this purpose and where should we look for new alternatives?What seems to be clear is that there is a need to better understand how to pursue innovation processes that systemically lead to sustainable and inclusive development processes and what policy choices and settings could lead to innovation-driven inclusive development.There is a need to learn what the drivers and triggers of these dynamics are, what factors could nurture a virtuous relationship between innovation and social inclusion and sustainability, what policy settings should be created.Do these matters belong to the science, technology, and innovation policy domain or should they cut across different policy domains?To what extent?What policy arrangements, institutional designs, and tools could best nurture innovation processes that are oriented toward inclusiveness and sustainability? 1 See, for instance, Why Socio-Economic Inequalities Increase?Facts and Policy Responses in Europe,