Education policies play a central role in innovation, by supplying the foundations and skills innovative economies require to develop new processes, to adopt new products and to adapt to changes over time. Rising investment in intangible assets (i.e. software, designs, new forms of business organisation) has proved to be important for growth and productivity, and such intangible assets are often a direct manifestation of human capital built on rising educational attainment and investment in skills (OECD, 2015a). The incremental and pervasive nature of innovation also broadens the workforce that can contribute to innovation generation and diffusion. A large educated society enables more user-driven innovation or emerging practices such as do-it-yourself science or crowdsourcing that hold promise for the future.