This article intends to identify and to discuss the meanings of the term innovation in specialized literature, in institutional documents and in a public health research institution managers' interpretations. A brief review of specialized literature was undertaken concerning innovation and models of analysis of innovation. This review was used as reference for the analysis of the meanings found in institutional documents of Science, Technology & Innovation from the Brazilian Ministry of the Science and Technology and in innovation conceptions from managers of Fiocruz. The complexity of the processes involved in innovation generation, the difficulty to identify the causal links between science, technology, economics and society and the acceleration of the changes in the role of knowledge in society gave rise to several analytical models of innovation in contrast to the "linear model of innovation", suggesting a period of paradigm transition. The analysis showed a high level of convergence with the innovation models and conceptions adopted by the economic advanced countries. These models have been influencing an ongoing Brazilian Science and Technology reform, introducing important issues to the public health sector.
Innovation; Innovation policies; Science and technology policies; Public health