1 June 2016

Members of the Centre for Service Excellence have been conducting research on how successful social innovation is carried out in the public sector across Europe.

What is LIPSE?

Funded by the EU’s FP7 framework, the LIPSE research project (Learning Innovation in Public Sector Environments) identifies drivers and barriers to successful social innovation in the public sector in 11 EU countries and 7 policy sectors. The UK-side of the project was led by Professor Stephen Osborne, Director of CenSE, and Dr Sophie Flemig, who will remain at CenSE as Early Career Fellow in Service Management.

The research agenda is organised around five general themes:

  • Innovation environments
  • Innovation inputs
  • Innovation tools and processes
  • Innovation outcomes
  • Feedback loops and innovative systems

Our Work Packages and Data

The project firstly mapped institutional environments to study the role of social capital, innovation champions and leadership, using survey research and social network analysis (Work Package 1). The project then looked at citizens’ inputs into public innovation processes through participation, complaints and co-creation; this was achieved by:

  • Case studies in social and welfare services and urban and rural regeneration (Work Package 2)
  • Analysing the secondary administrative datasets from ombudsmen and national audit offices
  • Large scale survey research (Work Package 3)

We then examined the use of risk management in innovation processes (Work Package 4). A work package on innovation diffusion and adoption assessed which factors contribute to the successful upscaling of ICT-driven social innovations, with a focus on teleworking (as a way of new working) and e-procurement (Work Package 5). Finally, the project will develop a comprehensive set of public sector social innovation indicators (Work Package 6) and explore future trends in social innovation through scenario-mapping with academic and practitioner experts (Work Package 7). The dissemination of knowledge will be widespread, using websites, articles, books, road shows and conferences across Europe.

Further Information

CenSE is coordinating the UK research efforts.