Social Innovation and Resilience

Abstract

This paper is set out to establish the foundations for developing a framework to assess the potential impact of social policy innovation to contribute to the debate on the future of welfare systems. This calls in fact for monitoring the evolution of social innovations and the implications on the social protection systems that are due to the combined effect of the digital transformation and the emergence of innovative governance paradigms. Building on an extensive systematization of the state of the art and conceptualization work, the paper discusses findings from the review of the literature, linking the relevant theoretical debates on social innovation and resilience with the debate on welfare state reforms. Thus, it presents the interpretative framework proposed, which builds on key dimensions of ICT-enabled innovation and digital governance, discussing the applicability of the framework and outlining policy implications and future research directions.