Different Entrepreneurial Approaches in Localized Spaces of Collaborative Innovation

Abstract

Creativity has a strong social component. The capture of distributed collective creativity plays a significant role in the innovative processes in organizations. In recent years, many localized spaces of collaborative innovation have been created under different names such as: fab labs, hackerspaces, makerspaces, coworking spaces, living labs, etc. All these spaces are based on openness, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. However, they differ in some aspects at their entrepreneurial approach. This article proposes a classification of different spaces according to 1) their focus either on the exploration of new ideas or the exploitation of innovations with a business purpose, and 2) the space governance mode whether it is "top-down" or "bottom up". The paper examines the implications about the complementarity of different spaces and about the development of the creative capability of individuals and organizations that use these spaces.

Keywords: collaborative innovation; fab labs; hacker spaces; coworking spaces; living labs; top-down; bottom up

JEL Classification: O31, L26