Open innovation for innovation tools: the case of co-design platforms

This paper explores the dynamics of openness and enclosure of innovation activities with IT artifacts on the example of co-design platforms. While modern information and communication technologies offer many new possibilities for innovation, they also subject innovation to the underlying technical structures, which can misdirect the activities on the platform. In order to avoid this, we propose an open innovation approach for open innovation solutions. We perform an empirical study on two co-design platforms which become subjects of innovation themselves in an open laboratory in the downtown area of a European city. Visitors to the laboratory are allowed to engage in innovate activities regarding the co-design platforms in whatever way they want. The results show that they do not only address technical improvements of the platforms, but also look into new directions to make the platforms more relevant or to replace them by other ways of innovating in the given contexts.