Realising The Value Of Open Innovation In Policy Making: Equipping Entrepreneurs For Valuation Work

Open innovation succeeds when it forms productive collaborations that cross organisational, disciplinary and practice boundaries. Success can, however, be hidden from stakeholders if the means to articulate value in novel, entrepreneurial open innovation work do not exist. We present collaborative design research tackling this challenge with the Cabinet Office Open Innovation Team ( OIT) within UK Government. Drawing on the findings of an ethnographic study we show how ` open innovation' and ` entrepreneurial' theories were used in practice to characterise the need for valuing the OIT's work. Using participatory design and co- design theory and methods we describe a multi- disciplinary intervention with the OIT, equipping them to collectively visualise their practice and to co- design new tools to support new and evolving valuation activities. We offer insights for collaborative design in open innovation settings and discuss the potential for co- designed tools to enable valuation in entrepreneurial practice.