Critical Assessment of the Role of Open Innovation in the Public Sector within a Context of Crisis

The project aims to critically assess the role of open innovation in the public sector in solving turbulent and complex problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemics. To deal with such crises, involving multiple actors with diverse expertise is recommended. The project uses network theories (Actor-Network Theory and Social Network Theory) to investigate the transition of open innovation projects from the front-end of innovation to implementation. The network theories are well fit to study open innovation which involves a broad spectrum of internal and external actors. The transition from front end to implementation is often marked with a dynamic change in actors involved in the project.

The project is based on an analysis of in-depth interviews and documents and network analysis to answer the research questions related to the structure, organization, dynamism, and build-up of collaborative networks supporting the birth and implementation of open innovation projects aiming to deal with the COVID-19 pandemics in the Czech Republic. This project contributes to the field of open innovation research by focusing on the role of open innovation in the public sector and within the context of crisis. It also contributes methodologically by using the network approach.