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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2014

Networked innovation in motion: illustration with The NetGrow toolbox

Résumé

The objective of the communication is twofold. Firstly it is to develop a vision of innovation encompassing, within the triple helix model, activities of innovation networking and structural aspects of innovation networks, developed through the concept of “networked innovation”. Secondly it is to show the practical implications of such a concept and vision for practitioners of the triple helix, especially with the elaboration of specific tools which aims are to consolidate and to develop processes of networked innovation. The concrete examples are drawn from an ongoing European Framework Program project devoted to the enhancement of innovation and learning in European food SMEs. For researchers, considering the innovation activity of firms seen as a whole necessitates mobilizing at the same time the existence of formal innovation networks and the practice by managers of informal network activities. Nevertheless research works on innovation usually considers separately these two main perspectives: the first one is focused around the roles, characteristics and dynamics of formal structured networks; the second stream of research deals with the innovation activity in itself and especially with the way companies will create and will activate, usually informally, different (individual) partners. But relatively few researches consider these two per-spectives jointly. More importantly these works do not question the nature of their links. In order to consider simultaneously these two dimensions, the concept of “networked innovation” is proposed. This concept is de-fined as a characterization of interplay between informal activities and formal structures. Drawing from these two perspectives and based upon recent works on the dialectics between formal and informal innovation issues, the objective of the article is to question in what sense these two perspectives can perform together or not, and what are the theoretical implications of this view. So we suggest considering innovation as a two-sided process where the structural and the formal dimensions of innovation must be considered in parallel with the innovation activity in itself. Doing so will allow us to delineate their relationships and to propose a grid characterizing these two aspects simultaneously. Finally, thanks to this grid, we qualify more precisely the situation of firms engaged in innovation. The objective of the communication is also to show how this concept can be mobilized to create diagnosis and accompanying tools on the ground, in order to enhance innovation capacity and resources. Three targets are identified, in coherence with our triple helix model: SME managers, policy makers, network managers. The ob-jective of these tools is to develop a step by step methodology to identify what are the benefits in engaging its own organization or institution in a networking activity, and/or in crafting specific interorganizational relation-ships devoted to innovation. In doing this, the managers will have an optimal use of their partners and environ-ment. As a first result, the tools are aiming mainly at the following tasks: the enhancement of the awareness in networking activity; the selection of the “adequate” network; the mobilization of the relevant services or output; the efficiency of the network management; the proposition of some policy recommendations. Keywords: innovation, network, process, structure, informal, level.
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Dates et versions

hal-04286563 , version 1 (15-11-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04286563 , version 1

Citer

Zam-Zam Abdirahman, Maryem Cherni, Frances Fortuin, Onno Omta, Loïc Sauvée. Networked innovation in motion: illustration with The NetGrow toolbox. Sustainability and Innovation in Chains and Networks, Capri, Italy, 2014-06-04/2014-06-06, WUR, Pays-Bas, Jun 2014, Capri (IT), Italy. ⟨hal-04286563⟩
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