Social Innovation in Services
Invited Session: Tuesday 11th June, 15:00-16:00
Theme
For too long scholarship in service industries and social innovation has been disconnected. This session brings together leading international researchers whose work develops a new foundation for research in social innovation in services by forging new connections and building on and synthesising different approaches and traditions. The discussion in this session will focus on advancing the current state-of-the-art in three key areas: (1) new conceptual and analytical approaches to understanding social innovation in services; (2) new ways of conducting sectoral and case studies; and (3) the formulation of new approaches to public policy to encourage and promote radical social innovation in services.
Key topics include understanding new opportunities for improving social goals and the social means within services innovation, the co-creation of new services by multiple stakeholders, networks for social innovation in services, new means for empowering citizens to actively engage in services innovation (e.g. living labs, social entrepreneurship and new business models), and how policy making is shaping ecosystems for social innovations in services.
Speakers
Maria Colurcio, Professor of Management, University of Catanzaro Magna Graecia, Italy
Attila Havas, PhD, Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria & Hungarian Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
Jürgen Howaldt, Professor of Sociology of Work and Organization, Dortmund University, Germany.
Organizer
Paul Windrum
Dr. Paul Windrum (Associate Professor University of Nottingham, UK and Visiting Professor VTT, Finland)
Paul Windrum is an experienced researcher who has published on private-private services innovation, and ICTs and digital platforms. This includes EU funded projects such as ‘Value co-creation and social innovation for a new generation of European libraries’ (2022-2025), and nationally funded projects such as ‘Metaverse meets Experience Industry’ (2023-2025). He has published in Research Policy on strategic competition in browser platforms and models of multi-agent innovation.
Research areas
- Services
- Social innovation
- Digital platforms.
Kirsi Hyytinen
Dr. Kirsi Hyytinen is Research team Leader (Future-proof Societies) and Senior scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. Her key areas of expertise relates to research, technology and innovation policy, focusing e.g. on following topics: innovation system, impact assessment and evaluation of R&D and innovation, service innovations, social innovations and systemic change. Besides, she has been responsible in developing and implementing impact evaluation model and related measures of Success (KPIs) as part of management and strategy work of VTT. Her recent work has focused on the development of new impact evaluation methodology, which builds on the basic ideas of developmental evaluation, and strengthens it with three broad perspectives and related methodologies: futures view, systems view and multi-actor view.
Research areas: Innovation system, impact assessment and evaluation of R&D and innovation, service innovations, social innovations and systemic change.
Tiina Tuominen
Dr. Tiina Tuominen is a Senior Researcher in Future-Proof Societies Research Team at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. She also holds the title of a Docent (Innovation Management and Innovative Organisations) at Tampere University. Her research combines sociological, organisational and service innovation theories to understand the systemic and social aspects of innovation and change processes. The research topics include, among others, analysing how change processes could be facilitated and coordinated to optimise its outcomes for various actors, without undermining their unanticipated resources and contributions in the processes. Previously Tiina has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Tampere University, Hanken School of Business and Aalto University, and as a Research Manager at Aalto University. She has published in journal such as Organization Studies, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Service Management, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Journal of Services Marketing and the Service Industries Journal.
Research areas: Services innovation, processes of innovation, social innovation.
Anu Seisto
Dr. Anu Seisto is a Research Team Leader at VTT for Future customer research. The team combines foresight and customer research. During the past 20+ years she has been working with R&D&I activities in projects on human behavior and technological advancements. The focus of the team is on supporting green transition and systemic change. The approach is strongly user/customer centric, bringing human technology interaction and experience into the foresight discussion and innovation and development processes. The main viewpoints are to create an understanding of future possibilities leading to possible service innovations and understanding the customer viewpoint and relevant customer segments to estimate the market potential.
Research areas: Customer centric innovation, technological change.
