The development of a public policy responds to the ideas, concepts and cognitive frames of reference that make possible its formulation. Nevertheless, over time the guiding approaches are institutionalized in rules, routines, procedures and ways of understanding a specific public policy. In the case of innovation policies, there is a conceptual breadth and institutional perspective that is synthesized in the evolutionary approach to innovation, which explains how the generation or improvement of new products or processes is related to interaction and understanding of different actors, who are immersed in an environment that allows the communication and learning through test and mistake. This document presents the general definitions of innovation, focusing on the evolutionary approach; and is also a conceptual guide for the formulation of public innovation policies.