Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel

Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia (Ermua, 1978) is an Associate Professor at Deusto Business School, University of Deusto, San Sebastián (Spain).

He holds a degree in Technical Engineering in Systems Electronics (1996) and a degree in Industrial Organization Engineering (2002) from the University of Mondragón. In 2008, he earned his PhD in Engineering and Innovation Projects from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), conducting research at the prestigious INGENIO institute (CSIC-Polytechnic University of Valencia). His doctoral work included a visiting research period at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), as a result of which he obtained the European PhD distinction.

After completing his PhD, he joined CIRCLE (Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy) at Lund University (Sweden) as a postdoctoral researcher, where he also held an assistant professorship. In 2013, he was awarded a prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Union, enabling him to join Deusto Business School. In 2018, he further broadened his international experience as a visiting researcher at HEC Montréal (Canada), and since 2020 he has being involved in joint research projects with the University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway).

His research focuses on science, technology, and innovation policy, innovation management, and the use of indicators to guide policy decisions and evaluations related to innovation. His multidisciplinary approach bridges diverse fields, fostering innovative research with both scientific and societal impact. His research has received numerous awards and recognitions, having had a strong policy impact. He has collaborated with supranational organizations such as the European Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Bank and the OECD. His contributions have earned him appointments to institutions such as the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (CACTI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Basque Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (JAKIUNDE), the COTEC Foundation for innovation in Spain, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Task Force on Innovation Policy Principles, and the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, among others.

Beyond academia and policymaking, he actively engages in public knowledge sharing. He contributes to the Ekonomiaren Plaza blog at the Diario Vasco newspaper, and the iNNoVaNDiS blog on innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Deusto.

Jon Mikel Zabala was a young corresponding member of JAKIUNDE from November 2019 to December 2023. In November 2024 he was elected corresponding member of JAKIUNDE.