Enhancing Collaborative Innovation in the Public Sector

Abstract

Encouraged by the proliferation of governance networks and the growing demands for public innovation, this article aims to advance “collaborative innovation” as a cross-disciplinary approach to studying and enhancing public innovation. The article explains the special conditions and the growing demand for public innovation, and demonstrates how it can be enhanced through multiactor collaboration. The case for collaborative innovation is supported by insights from three different social science theories. The theoretical discussion leads to the formulation of an analytical model that can be used in future studies of collaborative innovation in the public sector.