Abstract
Social innovation and open innovation are two concepts that have gained prominence in the last decade. Small social innovations have the potential to change the global system, expanding through a collaborative process. Furthermore, the collaborative process is the main characteristic of open innovation. Social and open innovations are relevant and emerging; their relationship with each other has been neglected in the literature. Based on the study of social innovation and open innovation, this chapter proposes a framework about the “open social innovation” and demonstrates how it can be implemented through examples in Brazil and the US. Based on the literature review and these examples, it is evident that “open social innovation” is already a reality in many regions and is a combination of the two original concepts converging in collaborative process.
TopInnovation
The ability to innovate is an intrinsic characteristic of human beings (Simms, 2006). The concept of innovation was initially linked to the economy, especially in the work of Schumpeter (1961). The author defines innovation as “the commercial or industrial application of something new – a new product, process, or method of production; a new market or source of supply; a new form of commercial, business, or financial organization” (Schumpeter (1961), p. xix). This definition shows the close link between innovation and the ability of firms to develop processes that are appropriate for the capitalist context.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Social Innovation: “An initiative aimed at creating new social structures, new social relations, new forms of decision” (Chombart de Lauwe (1976) AU41: The in-text citation "Lauwe (1976)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. cited from the Cloutier (2003) ).
Crowdsourcing: “The act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to undefined generally large group of people in the form of open call” (Howe, 2006 AU40: The in-text citation "Howe, 2006" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ).
Open Innovation: “Means that valuable ideas can come from inside or outside the company and can go to market from inside or outside the company as well” (H. W. Chesbrough, 2003 , p. 43).
‘Open Social Innovation’: When social innovation is seen from a collaborative point of view, organizations become more porous structures that make it possible to overcome the barriers that prevent communities from innovating from the bottom up.
Social Challenge Ideas: A challenge online to encouraging participants to submit ideas in order to solve a specific problem, which may be useful to government and society. Citizens submit ideas and a prize is offered for the best response to the challenge.
Crowdstorming: The ability to absorb ideas from different sources, mainly external, conducting a brainstorming through the Internet.