Protection and diffusion of (contested) user ideas in communities
| Dates: | 14 April 2015 |
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| Times: | 14:00 - 15:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Manchester Institute of Innovation Research |
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| Venue opening hours: | 2-3pm (coffee from 1.30pm) |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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| Speaker: | Wouter Boon |
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Usually, the user innovation literature deals with the way in which users are engaged in improving separate products or services, such as medical devices (Von Hippel, 1988; Lettl et al., 2006) and outdoor sports products (Franke & Shah, 2003). This scope has been widened in the sense that organized cooperation takes into account users who work together on novel products and services in the context of communities (Von Hippel, 2005; Verhaegh 2010).
In my presentation I will focus on two contributions to conceptualizing innovation in the context of user communities. The first concerns the way in which user communities actively protect the implementation of emerging, contested technologies. Boon et al (2014) present this issue, drawing on two case studies in the field of pharmaceutical innovation: HIV/AIDS and pandemic influenza. The second contribution is about the diffusion of (contested) ideas proposed by users in their communities. This ‘work in progress’ study is about off-label drug use. DeMonaco and colleagues (2006; 2013) paid attention to users as ultimate sources of new off-label use. Despite this finding, there is still a need for conceptualizing and unravelling the diffusion pathways in the post-implementation phase (Bogers et al., 2010). I am particularly interested in the role of and dynamics within user communities. The research question is, then: how do dynamics in user communities contribute to the diffusion of off-label drug use? Related to this: what determines the development of new ideas in user communities, how are these new ideas put into practice and how are these practices spread? And what does user innovation mean for (demand-oriented) innovation policy?
Speaker
Wouter Boon
Role: Assistant Professor in Innovation and Life Sciences
Organisation: University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
10.02
Harold Hankins building
Oxford Road
Manchester
