The concept of collaborative testbeds is increasingly popular in the public sector, and especially in cities this expression of public governance is becoming more common (Kitchin, 2015). Collaboration and real life experimentation are prerequisites for managing complex urban challenges and there is an interest from both business, NGOs, local governments and national agencies to use cities as testbeds (or living labs), in which solutions to various societal challenges are explored and evaluated in co-creative frameworks (Tönurist, Kattel and Lember, 2017). In general, the testing activities are systemic and multi-faceted since they are not limited to technical solutions, but also include the test of services, collaborations, business models and public policy. Hereby, the demand on the participating actors to understand their extended role increases, and our claim in this paper is the importance to develop strategic awareness and management skill in such a new institutional context (Sandberg & Targama, 2007).
Although the concept of testbed gives rise to seemingly clear objects, it is anything but clear. In this paper, we consider testbeds as a complex adaptive system (Innes & Booher, 1999). This type of hybrid organization that mixes elements, value systems and action logics is challenging; since working with complex issues with systemic characteristics, with multiple actors, divergent decision-making and different values is highly demanding (Steen & van Bueren, 2017). Test, innovation and experimentation can be something positive, but nevertheless it is not free from risk to transform cities into testbeds: How can one for example ensure that citizens benefit from the tested solutions, or how can fundamental principles on equality, legality and efficiency be assured? What stakeholders will be able to test in the city? And who will secure the overall perspective?
The stakeholders around urban testbeds are many, but one actor has a special position: the municipality. The municipality is a local democratic entity that can enable collaboration and ensure that public values are safeguarded. In this paper, we will explore the roles of local government in different types of testbed activities. We will describe the different roles municipalities have in test activities and what risks and problems there are from a public perspective. We will connect our observations and discussions to current literature on public sector values, the role of officials in complex organizations and governance for urban innovation.
The paper is based on 20 interviews with informants that have experiences from urban innovation projects financed by the national agency for innovation in Sweden during 2010-2017, in two large Swedish cities (Stockholm and Gothenburg). The innovation projects studied all aim to solve complex problems, they use common resources (the city) to test new solutions and they are all established in collaboration between different stakeholders. Furthermore, the municipality participate in all projects.
The preliminary results show that there is a lack of strategic thinking and structural learning regarding test activities within the municipals, the process of how collaboration partners are selected are often adhoc and the awareness about the role of the public sector within test activities are limited.
Strategic management and public service performance in the New Public Governance era
