INNOVATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNANCE: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND AN ANALYSIS OF CROWDSOURCING EXPERIENCES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Innovation is not only limited to technical and economic aspects anymore, thanks to the approach of social innovation (Mulgan et al., 2007; Phills et al., 2008; Noya et al., 2009). With this paper, we want to understand how... [ view full abstract ]

Innovation is not only limited to technical and economic aspects anymore, thanks to the approach of social innovation (Mulgan et al., 2007; Phills et al., 2008; Noya et al., 2009). With this paper, we want to understand how social innovation can influence local government and governance processes; this analysis is relevant to the panel as it takes into account a specific concept of innovation and its consequences on local government. To answer our research question, the paper is organized as follows: we will first provide a theoretical framework on innovation in local government and governance processes; we will then focus on the aspect of social innovation and briefly review the literature on the topic, and finally we will define and explain one of its specific applications, crowdsourcing.
While crowdsourcing is usually employed in the private sector by companies in their relationship with consumers and specific communities, it’s also interesting to note that many public administrations all over the world have started to adopt crowdsourcing practices to improve public service delivery as well as the management of certain aspects of public life where citizens’ inputs can be valuable for public administrations.
We will then analyse various crowdsourcing experiences promoted by national and local public administrations, to understand how they work, their scope and their effects. The analysis will be based on the frameworks provided by Nam (2011) and by Hilgers and Ihl (2010), which both define relevant dimensions of crowdsourcing and of its application to the public sector. We will then be able to define the areas on which public administrations are more keen to ask for citizens’ opinions and support.
This research is significant because it provides an overview of the use of crowdsourcing in the public sector, analysing its strengths and weaknesses, in order to understand how it can innovate local government dynamics.
In addition to this, the outcome of the application of crowdsourcing in the public sector is a greater involvement of the civil society in local government. These practices could be successfully implemented where open government strategies are already in place in order to strengthen them. Future research could evaluate the social impact generated by social innovations in local government, as well as designing specific strategies for their application.