Work

Mapping social innovation networks: Knowledge intensive social services as systems builders

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Social innovations are often seen as the product of social entrepreneurs. This paper instead asserts that social innovations are also routinized. This is the result of the appearance of a new type of actors: Knowledge Intensive Social Services (KISS). Like Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS), KISS are consultancy organizations that provide their clients with specific knowledge to assist them in their innovation efforts. KISS differ from KIBS in that KISS agents are specializing in social innovations. KISS also involve third party agents - public and private - in the service relationship. We show that these connecting activities are creating growing social innovation networks. Despite being very dependent on the initial KISS actor, such networks can become more robust by interacting with other social innovation networks.

Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120068

Authors: Benoît Desmarchelier, Faridah Djellal, Faïz Gallouj

Institution: Université de Lille

Language: English

Topic: Innovation, Technology, and Society

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $1,207