In the introduction Isabel Bortagaray and Gonzalo Ordóñez-Matamoros, editors of this Special Issue of the Review of Policy Research on Innovation, Innovation Policy, and Social Inclusion in Developing Countries, comment about the focus on the increasing claims for a more responsive innovation policy to address longstanding problems affecting the most vulnerable population, particularly in developing countries.
They affirm that i['In many of them, economic growth coexists with increasing inequality, where technological innovation can be linked to increasing social exclusion. Historically, the mainstream approach to innovation policies has placed the emphasis on research and development. But increasingly it is acknowledged that innovation goes far beyond the formal R&D, and that tacit knowledge, experience, and learning capabilities are enormously valuable, particularly when considering the characteristics of developing countries. As a consequence, policymakers are blamed for not paying enough attention to what knowledge and technology entails and has to offer, and on the ways it could be exploited and governed in order to improve the conditions of the poor. This special issue intends to explore and fuel the current debate on the role technological innovation as well as social innovation is playing or could play in fostering social inclusion, the alleviation of poverty and the reduction of inequality in these countries'.
This special issue includes six conceptual and empirical narratives focusing in one way or another on this claim, pointing to the need of new institutional arrangements to advance in the path towards social inclusion, either by broadening the scope of innovation policies to include social innovation, or by encouraging the expansion of the research agendas to foster technological innovation to address the needs of the poor in a more participative way'.
In our article 'Fostering Quality of Life through Social Innovation: A Living Lab Methodology Study Case' -the first in this issue- we realize an extensive review of the theoretical roots and principal trends in the literature on the concept of social innovation, analyzing throughout 76 definitions its aims and differential characteristics related to other types of innovation. The paper examines the role of participative processes and citizens’ empowerment which are considered crucial aspects of social innovation, involving collaborative activities between the private, public, and third sectors (and the emergence of the called fourth sector). We also analyze the living lab (LL) methodology for collaborative placed-based innovation as useful instrument to detect community needs and improve local governance processes.