Public service innovation networks (PSINs) An instrument for collaborative innovation and value co-creation in public service(s)

This article is devoted to a new network form that is developing within the New Public Governance paradigm, namely “Public Service Innovation Networks” (PSINs). PSINs are multi-agent collaborative arrangements that develop within public service(s), spontaneously or at the instigation of local, national or European public policies. They mobilize a variable number of public and private agents, especially citizens, to co-produce innovations and ultimately contribute to value co-creation. Based on a review of the literature and on empirical work carried out under two European funded projects, this article aims to deepen the definition and description of PSINs, especially in comparison with other known network forms, and to examine in particular how PSINs are formed and function to co-create, more or less efficiently, value in public service(s) through innovation.