Collaboratrici e collaboratori

Innovation is a key factor in the knowledge economy, increasing the competitiveness of companies through differentiation and the use of specific resources. Collaborative innovation and “open innovation” are concepts that use openness outside the boundaries of the company, involving exchanges with different types of actors. This chapter presents the guiding concepts and basic notions associated with open and collaborative innovation. Open innovation comes from the field of innovation and technology management and mainly concerns Research and Development. The externalities and impacts of open innovation are distributed within and outside the company's borders. The dichotomy of open innovation versus closed innovation is criticized in many works. Open innovation involves the co-creation of knowledge and innovations as well as knowledge transfer. The collaborations that are possible and necessary to develop and accelerate innovative activities internal to firms may be limited in terms of property rights and conditions predefined by the actors.