Open innovation in the public sector: creating public value through civic hackathons

Abstract

This article examines the outcomes of open innovation (OI) and their contribution to public value by analysing 19 subnational civic hackathons across the US. Our analysis identifies three outcomes (digital prototypes, public engagement and relationship building, and government awareness of open data and OI) and lends support to the predominance of public engagement and relationship building over digital prototypes. Further, our study shows that OI initiatives may contribute to public value by enhancing substantive outcomes, democratic accountability, and procedural legitimacy. However, such contribution is constrained by the early stage of adoption of these initiatives and by the limited participation of external actors.