Multi-stakeholder Innovation Research Articles

The Wharf Street Smart Park Story: A Guide to Navigating Multi-Stakeholder Innovation in Smart Cities

The challenges of multistakeholder innovation in smart city projects can be navigated through collaboration and a clear understanding of each organisation’s values, technology, user groups, and potential policy changes. Increasing technology use in urban development projects brings numerous challenges, such as technology redundancy, varying stakeholder expectations, and the required policy changes. This paper aims to discuss the story of the development of Wharf Street smart park in Western Australia and highlights strategies for overcoming the challenges of multistakeholder innovation in smart city projects. It utilises a democratic collaboration tool to map out each organisation’s vision, values, and responsibilities at the initial stage of the project to create an open innovation ecosystem where knowledge can be shared. High collaboration levels using this tool have helped establish common goals, adaptive practices and overcome governance and technical challenges. However, the tool needs further development, as it was found to be insufficient in addressing long-term management issues, risk mapping, and user group identification for big data.

Collective health research assessment: developing a tool to measure the impact of multistakeholder research initiatives

BackgroundThe need to more collaboratively measure the impact of health research and to do so from multidimensional perspectives has been acknowledged. A scorecard was developed as part of the Collective Research Impact Framework (CRIF), to engage stakeholders in the assessment of the impacts of health research and innovations. The purpose of this study was to describe the developmental process of the MULTI-ACT Master Scorecard (MSC) and how it can be used as a workable tool for collectively assessing future responsible research and innovation measures.MethodsAn extensive review of the health research impact literature and of multistakeholder initiatives resulted in a database of 1556 impact indicators. The MSC was then cocreated by engaging key stakeholders and conducting semi-structured interviews of experts in the field.ResultsThe MSC consists of five accountability dimensions: excellence, efficacy, economic, social and patient-reported outcomes. The tool contains 125 potential indicators, classified into 53 impact measurement aspects that are considered the most relevant topics for multistakeholder research and innovation initiatives when assessing their impact on the basis of their mission and their stakeholders’ interests. The scorecard allows the strategic management of multistakeholder research initiatives to demonstrate their impact on people and society. The value of the tool is that it is comprehensive, customizable and easy to use.ConclusionsThe MSC is an example of how the views of society can be taken into account when research impacts are assessed in a more sustainable and balanced way. The engagement of patients and other stakeholders is an integral part of the CRIF, facilitating collaborative decision-making in the design of policies and research agendas. In policy making, the collective approach allows the evaluation perspective to be extended to the needs of society and towards responsible research and innovation. Multidimensionality makes research and innovations more responsive to systemic challenges, and developing more equitable and sustainable health services.

A state-initiated multi-stakeholder platform as an instrument to build agricultural innovation system capacity: a case study from Ethiopia

ABSTRACT The agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in many Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries lack the structural capacities to support smallholder-inclusive innovation. Multi-stakeholder Innovation Platforms (IPs) have been proposed as systemic instruments to improve the functioning and building of the structural capacities of the Innovation System (IS). This article studies the role of state-initiated IPs and multilevel Agriculture Development Partners Linkage Advisory Councils (ADPLACs) in tackling the systemic problems of the AIS in Tigray, Ethiopia. After studying policy documents, in-depth interviews were conducted with various participants of ADPLACs. The results show that the contribution of ADPLAC in building the structural capacities is limited; due to the absence of some important enabling factors and the presence of several intertwined constraints. The major finding of this study is that the interlocked nature of the systemic problems constrained the functioning of the platform, indicating the need for combining IPs with other systemic instruments, to overcome the lock-in.

Sluggish, but innovative? Orchestrating collaboration in multi-stakeholder networks despite low commitment

ABSTRACT Network orchestrators try to mobilise value from multi-stakeholder settings for innovation. While most of these settings for innovation are dynamic and fast-paced, we explore an empirical case in which members are not deeply engaged initially, whereas the orchestrators themselves are highly active and committed. Building on a qualitative study of a multi-stakeholder innovation network in the context of autonomous driving, we carve out the challenges orchestrators face in these ‘sluggish’ network settings. In addition, our findings unfold three practices orchestrators use to cultivate members’ commitment. Based on these findings, we expand the theoretical understanding of network orchestration by showing practices of orchestration that specifically focus on the creation of commitment among network members that are generally interested but remain passive at first. Furthermore, by assessing how orchestrators try to align members’ time horizons with their own, we unpack the idea of orchestrators as temporal brokers that sequence activities in multi-temporal innovation environments. Overall, we show how orchestrators can foster members' commitment levels to eventually collaborate on innovative projects.

Impact of Improved Agricultural Technology Use on Household Income in Eastern Ethiopia: Empirical Evidence from a Propensity Score Matching Estimation

This article investigates the impact of improved agricultural technology use on farm household income in eastern Ethiopia. Primary data for the study were obtained from a random sample of 248 rural households, 119 of which are improved technology users and the rest are non-users. The research employed the propensity score matching procedure to establish the causal relationship between adoption of improved crop and livestock technologies and changes in farm income. Results from the econometric analysis show that households using improved agricultural technologies had, on average, 23,031.28 Birr 1 higher annual farm income compared to those households not using such technologies. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting multiple and complementary agricultural technologies among rural smallholders. Therefore, we suggest that rural technology generation, dissemination and adoption interventions be strengthened. Moreover, the linkage among research, extension, universities and farmers needs to be enhanced through facilitating multistakeholder innovation platforms.

Multi-Stakeholder Innovation in Tourism Industry: A Recent Development and Future Directions

Abstract: Tourism is the most affected industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though it can be reinstated through innovations and collaborations. For instance, the marketing paradigm has shifted from product to service-dominant logic, influencing open innovations. The closed innovations are ineffective in the current business environment because of excluding other actors, such as suppliers, universities, research organizations, public institutes, competitors, and tourists, specifically during the pandemic. This indicates stakeholder networks are essential in promoting tourism industry innovations. Therefore, this research examined the existing literature on multi-stakeholder innovation in the tourism industry. The relevant articles were identified using multiple keywords search on major research databases and analyzed based on tourism innovation research stream, type, and characteristic of innovation (value creation-value capture), innovation platforms, research methodology, the network actors, and key concepts. After identifying the gap, relevant literature for academicians and practitioners was provided. The literature is expected to guide practitioners on the importance of stakeholder innovations to restore and improve tourism conditions from the pandemic. Keywords: Literature review, Future direction, Innovation, Collaboration, Multi-stakeholder, Tourism industry

Scaling Readiness: Science and practice of an approach to enhance impact of research for development

Scaling of innovations is a key requirement for addressing societal challenges in sectors such as health, agriculture, and the environment. Research for development (R4D) programs, projects and other interventions struggle to make particular innovations go to scale. Current conceptualizations of scaling are often too simplistic; more systemic and multidimensional perspectives, frameworks and measures are needed. There is a gap between new complexity-aware theories and perspectives on innovation, and tools and approaches that can improve strategic and operational decision-making in R4D interventions that aim to scale innovations. This paper aims to bridge that gap by developing the key concepts and measures of Scaling Readiness. Scaling Readiness is an approach that encourages critical reflection on how ready innovations are for scaling and what appropriate actions could accelerate or enhance scaling. Scaling Readiness provides action-oriented support for (1) characterizing the innovation and innovation system; (2) diagnosing the current readiness and use of innovations as a proxy for their readiness to scale; (3) developing strategy to overcome bottlenecks for scaling; (4) facilitating and negotiating multi-stakeholder innovation and scaling processes; and (5) navigating and monitoring the implementation process to allow for adaptive management. Scaling Readiness has the potential to support evidence-based scaling strategy design, implementation and monitoring, and – if applied across multiple interventions – can be used to manage a portfolio of innovation and scaling investments.

Anchoring innovation methodologies to ‘go-to-scale’; a framework to guide agricultural research for development

Research for development (R4D) projects increasingly engage in multi-stakeholder innovation platforms (IPs) as an innovation methodology, but there is limited knowledge of how the IP methodology spreads from one context to another. That is, how experimentation with an IP approach in one context leads to it being succesfully replicated in other contexts. To inspire development actors to consider the fit of an innovation methodology for a context, following work on anchoring for scaling, we developed a framework for networking-, methodological, and institutional anchoring and applied it to a R4D IP in order to test the value of such an anchoring approach for understanding the scaling of innovation methodologies such as IP. We selected a R4D project with a Farmer Research Group-Innovation Platform in Ethiopia, whose technical output and methodological approach were greatly appreciated by the actors involved. Using the anchoring framework, the executed or non-executed tasks were identified. Besides, the embedding of the methodological experiment the potential up-scaling and out-scaling were systematically analyzed. The analysis yielded the strengths and weaknesses of the anchoring work done so far to scale the innovation methodology used, and provided concrete suggestions of how to proceed if an innovation project considers ‘going to scale’. We recommend R4D projects to valorize their work and pay more explicit attention to anchoring. With a flexible, multi-pronged anchoring approach and continuous scanning of the progress made in context, more R4D projects and their associated innovation methodologies can ‘go to scale’.

Multi-Stakeholder Innovation in Smart City Discourse: Quadruple Helix Thinking in the Age of “Platforms”

The predominant rhetoric in smart city debates puts the emphasis on collaboration. Conceptualizing, designing, implementing, validating, and evaluating solutions to urban challenges with all relevant stakeholders around the table are perceived as the optimal modus operandi in these perspectives. But how does this vision relate to current practices in cities? This paper deals with the observed trend toward more multi-stakeholder collaboration and the resulting complex value networks these stakeholders need to navigate. This is exemplified in what has been called the “platformization” of the urban space by “urban service platforms” (e.g., Uber, AirBnB) as well as in so-called “quadruple helix” approaches to urban innovation. Particularly for (local) government, finding a role in these complex networks has proven challenging. This paper explores the main challenges concerning multi-stakeholder innovation and opportunities related to this topic.

Innovation platform for improving rice marketing decisions among smallholder farmers in Homa-Bay County, Kenya

Smallholder farmers are normally faced with making a decision on market participation and consequently choosing the appropriate marketing channel for their agricultural produce. This study focuses on how a multi-stakeholder innovation platform approach for improving the uptake of System of Rice Intensification and rice productivity influences marketing decisions among smallholder rice farmers. The study relies on primary data collected from 102 households in Homa-Bay County, Kenya. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were used in the analysis. The practice of system of rice intensification, membership to farmer groups, frequency of access to extension services, distance to the nearest market and access to transportation facilities were important determinants to market participation among farmers. A farmers’ choice of marketing channel was commonly influenced by size of land under rice cultivation, access to transport facilities and whether rice was to be sold collectively or individually. We therefore conclude that the multi-stakeholder innovation platform approach improves decision making in marketing. We thus recommend that governments embrace multi-stakeholder Innovation Platforms as a framework for improving farmer participation in rice markets and improving decision making when approaching available markets.

Exploring blockchain for the energy transition: Opportunities and challenges based on a case study in Japan

Under pressures to reach net zero emissions by 2050, there is an ongoing transition of energy decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization. Physical and information flows in energy systems are increasingly complex and distributed, leaving centralized structures inefficient. Blockchain technology is suggested as part of the next step in this transition. Blockchain has potential to facilitate distributed, peer-to-peer trading with reduced transaction costs, increased security via cryptography, and prosumer choice. However, there are as of yet multiple challenges to the expansion of blockchain in the energy sector. This paper argues that analysis of these challenges requires a multi-angled approach incorporating technological, economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions. First, each dimension is explored, substantiated based on a blockchain-based energy system case in Japan. Concrete challenges of scaling this case toward 2050 and potential opportunities in overcoming these challenges are discussed, leveraging extensive literature review. Finally, an overview of strategic indications is suggested. The findings of this paper present initial indications on challenges and opportunities to overcome them based on a multi-dimensional overview. It is suggested that the factors identified across the dimensions are interrelated. This would in turn call for coherent innovation management and multi-stakeholder innovation ecosystems. Living Labs and regulatory sandboxes are prospective foundations to support such ecosystems, and enable informed decision-making among both private and public sector actors. At large, it is suggested that a holistic and pragmatic approach can benefit the application and scalability of blockchain in the energy transition.

Hybrid Orchestration in Multi-stakeholder Innovation Networks: Practices of mobilizing multiple, diverse stakeholders across organizational boundaries

The prominence of inter-organizational networks for innovation raises questions about how to support collaboration between multiple, diverse stakeholders. We focus on network orchestration and examine the practices that support orchestrators in dealing with the challenges brought by the number and diversity of stakeholders. Using qualitative, longitudinal data from an innovation network of 57 stakeholders, we identify three types of orchestration practices – connecting, facilitating and governing – and observe how they underlie innovation trajectories over time, each supporting the achievement of distinct network outcomes. Within and across trajectories, we observe how orchestrators rely on hybrid orchestration: they switch between dominating and consensus-based orchestration modes, in response to emergent network challenges. By switching between modes, orchestrators address the complexities of simultaneously and temporally dealing with a large number and diversity of stakeholders. With these findings, we present a toolbox of practices for network orchestrators to address distinct challenges in different types of networks and underscore that network research should consider the plurality of networks, rather than treat them as universalistic. Orchestrators play a key role in managing this plurality: they act as environmental scanners who address emergent network challenges through hybrid orchestration. This realization opens new avenues for network research, for example, relating to the skills and capabilities of orchestrators.

Hybrid Orchestration in Multi-stakeholder Innovation Networks: Practices of mobilizing multiple, diverse stakeholders across organizational boundaries:

The prominence of inter-organizational networks for innovation raises questions about how to support collaboration between multiple, diverse stakeholders. We focus on network orchestration and exam...

Effects of multi-stakeholder platforms on multi-stakeholder innovation networks: Implications for research for development interventions targeting innovations at scale.

Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) have been playing an increasing role in interventions aiming to generate and scale innovations in agricultural systems. However, the contribution of MSPs in achieving innovations and scaling has been varied, and many factors have been reported to be important for their performance. This paper aims to provide evidence on the contribution of MSPs to innovation and scaling by focusing on three developing country cases in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. Through social network analysis and logistic models, the paper studies the changes in the characteristics of multi-stakeholder innovation networks targeted by MSPs and identifies factors that play significant roles in triggering these changes. The results demonstrate that MSPs do not necessarily expand and decentralize innovation networks but can lead to contraction and centralization in the initial years of implementation. They show that some of the intended next users of interventions with MSPs–local-level actors–left the innovation networks, whereas the lead organization controlling resource allocation in the MSPs substantially increased its centrality. They also indicate that not all the factors of change in innovation networks are country specific. Initial conditions of innovation networks and funding provided by the MSPs are common factors explaining changes in innovation networks across countries and across different network functions. The study argues that investigating multi-stakeholder innovation network characteristics targeted by the MSP using a network approach in early implementation can contribute to better performance in generating and scaling innovations, and that funding can be an effective implementation tool in developing country contexts.

Frontier Analysis and Agricultural Typologies

PARI’s main goal is to contribute to sustainable agricultural growth and food security in Africa and India by supporting the scaling of proven innovations in the agri-food sector in collaboration with all relevant actors. PARI accompanies specified innovations with ex-ante impact research and identifies further innovation opportunities, including those expressed by end users of research in collaboration with the multi-stakeholder innovation platforms. Within PARI’s work, AGRODEP and IFPRI have the task of assisting in the development of a methodology and concept for strategic analysis and visioning by providing economic modelling tools to help understand where the best opportunities for innovation investments in value chains are. For this purpose, IFPRI has constructed agricultural typologies of micro-regions for 8 of the 12 African countries in PARI to identify micro-regional level opportunities, bottlenecks and investment gaps based on the concept of the production possibilities frontier applied to farm activities, drawing on highly detailed household-level survey and geospatial data on agroecological conditions, accessibility and poverty. The stochastic frontier approach allows the econometric exploration of the notion that, given the fixed local agroecological and economic conditions in a micro-region and the occurrence of random shocks that affect agricultural production (weather, prices, etc.), the investment, production decisions and technological innovations a farmer makes translate into higher or lower production and income. In such a context, inefficiency is defined as the loss incurred in by operating away from the frontier given the current prices and fixed factors faced by the household. By estimating where the frontier lies, and how far each producer is from it, the stochastic frontier approach helps to identify local potential and efficiency levels to construct the typology. With this estimation approach estimates are obtained that allow for the prediction and extrapolation of agricultural income potential and efficiency measures at the regional level, which can then be grouped and classified into types to construct the typology. The typology then allows the identification of types of regions with extremely different needs, bottlenecks and opportunities, which in turn will result in a different set of investment recommendations for development in each type of region, including decisions regarding investments in agricultural innovation.

Developing climate-smart agriculture to face climate variability in West Africa: Challenges and lessons learnt

This paper reviewed the prospects for climate-smart agriculture (CSA) development and promotion in West Africa as well as lessons learnt and challenges with a focus on climate change and variability. It was evident from the literature that West Africa is vulnerable to climate change and variability, on account of its socio-economic and physical characteristics. As climate change and variability persists, the region's quest to use agriculture as the mainstream opportunity to deliver on set targets of the sustainable development goals will be strongly challenged without appropriate interventions. Adopting CSA seems to be a suitable strategy to achieving food security while also mitigating and adapting to climate-related risks. Among numerous CSA technologies, the review found (1) agroforestry (farmer-managed natural regenerations), soil and water conservation technologies (zai, half-moon, tie/contour ridges, conservation agriculture) and (3) climate information services as highly valued promising options for climate change adaptation and risk management in West Africa. In addition, institutional settings at the community, national and regional levels such as the establishment of multi-stakeholder innovation platforms, national science policy dialogue platforms on CSA in parts of West Africa and the formulation of the West Africa CSA Alliance were found to be crucial in promoting capacity development and awareness of CSA technologies and innovations in the region. The review found that CSA still faces a number of challenges, including: lack of clear conceptual understanding, limited enabling policy and financing. The prospects of CSA in West Africa hinge on the capacities of farming households and the region's national institutions to understand the environmental, economic and social challenges in the context of climate change, and consequently self-mobilize to develop and implement responsive policies at appropriate scales.

Diversity amongst farm households and achievements from multi-stakeholder innovation platform approach: lessons from Balaka Malawi

BackgroundUnderstanding diversity of smallholder farm households is of critical importance for the success of development interventions. Farming households often will devise livelihood strategies that provide the best guarantee for survival and based on their socioeconomic vulnerability. This study examines how achievements from the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) approach through participation in innovation platform activities accrue to smallholder farming households of diverse socioeconomic status. The study is based on a representative sample of smallholder farmers from Balaka innovation platform found in Balaka district of Malawi. Balaka innovation platform was formed in 2009 with the aim of addressing key farmer problems of low crop productivity, lack of input and output markets, limited access to agricultural credit, low incomes and poverty in general. Through multi-stakeholder dialogue, the platform proposed activities meant to improve livelihoods of participants. Some of the activities include conservation agriculture adoption, crop diversification, improved communication through the platform, linking farmers to microfinance institutions and markets, collective market participation, joining farmer groups organised by the platform and various other activities. The main aim was to improve crop productivity, household incomes and food security.ResultsA multivariate study that combines principal component analysis for essential data reduction and cluster analysis to classify typical farm households based on their socioeconomic characteristics and reported achievements from innovation platform activities was used. It is evident from the results that achievements from innovation platform activities are not uniform across farmer groups of different socioeconomic status.ConclusionsThe upshots call for segregated approaches in promoting adoption of various livelihood improving activities, technologies and approaches through the innovation platform approach in smallholder farming areas such as the ones in Balaka, Malawi. Tactics selected by development partners to fight against smallholder farmer problems of low productivity low incomes and food insecurity should conform to farmer socioeconomic vulnerability for greater success.

Influence of multi-stakeholder innovation platform approach on smallholder farmers marketing decisions

One of the very numerous decisions that smallholder farmers face world wide relates to market participation in agricultural markets and, consequently choosing the appropriate marketing channel for their agricultural produce. Such decisions impact on their incomes and subsequently on their welfare. The objective of this study was to determine how a multi-stakeholder innovation platform approach influences pigeon pea (Cajanus Cajan L.) marketing decisions in smallholder farming in Malawi. The study relied on primary data collected from 115 households in Balaka District in Malawi during an impact survey done in November 2014. Results confirmed that the multi-stakeholder innovation platform approach improves decision making in pigeon pea marketing. Variables such as access to transport services and market information, improved extension, capacity building through farmer training, adoption of conservation agriculture and membership to farmer groups influenced marketing decisions.Keywords: Marketing channel choice, market participation, pigeon pea

Integrated agricultural landscape management: Case study on inclusive innovation processes, monitoring and evaluation in the Mbeya Region, Tanzania

Integrated landscape management is a process for achieving multiple objectives related to agricultural production, ecosystem conservation, and sustainable natural resource management. These multiple livelihood functions are important features of an agricultural landscape in Mbeya, Tanzania. Due to environmental damage caused by agricultural expansion and charcoal burning, a process called integrated agricultural landscape management (IALM) was implemented to address this problem. This encompassed the identification and involvement of a range of key landscape actors and processes like awareness creation and joint problem analysis, solution framing, learning, planning and implementation of actions, and monitoring and evaluation. A multistakeholder innovation platform was formed for creating a coordination mechanism, common understanding, vision and goals, and networking. Fifty IALM ideas were identified and six selected by the stakeholders. Outcomes of using the IALM process included policy recommendations, joint learning, and innovative actions and were codeveloped, implemented, monitored, and evaluated with the local communities.

Crowdsourcing Internet Governance: The Case of ICANN's Strategy Panel on Multistakeholder Innovation

Internet governance issues are diverse in scope and transnational in scale, making issue awareness and consensus building among relevant stakeholders a logistical leviathan. Historically, the identification and resolution of internet governance issues have remained within the purview of technical bodies (lead primarily by the private sector) and governments. Lack of centralized control over the internet created a situation where no single player has ultimate jurisdiction over the technical and political regulation of the web. This shift in power has resulted in creation of a range of multistakeholder forums to promote both discourse among various actors about internet governance issues and potential solutions, as well as binding decision-making. On the one end of the spectrum are non-binding organizations, such the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Established in 2006, the IGF seeks to encourage deliberation about internet governance that embodies “international cooperation, collaboration, and implementation” among diverse stakeholders, albeit without binding or prescriptive outcomes (Napoli, 2008, p. 3).1 On the other end of the spectrum are organizations that produce concrete binding rules and regulations, such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Founded in 1998, in response to the growing complexity and escalating international criticism of informal, US-centric mechanisms for the management of internet names and number, ICANN remains one of the primary internet governance organizations, and also one that seeks to rely on multistakeholder processes (Mueller, 2002).