This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst[PDF]) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Van Oost, E. Articles by Oudshoorn, N. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

From Innovation Community to Community Innovation: User-initiated Innovation in Wireless Leiden

University of Twente

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: e.c.j.vanoost {at}utwente.nl.

	Abstract

The role of users in innovation processes has gained increasing attention in innovation studies, technology studies, and media studies. Scholars have identified users and use practices as a source of innovation. So far, however, little insight has been generated in innovation processes in which communities of users are the driving force in all phases of the innovation process. This article explores the conceptual vocabularies of innovation studies and actor– network theory and discusses their adequacy for describing and understanding the dynamics of user-initiated innovation processes in which community and innovation are closely intertwined. The authors introduce the concept of community innovation and argue for its relevance for understanding the full dynamics of innovations initiated and shaped by user collectives. The article elaborates a qualitative case study of Wireless Leiden, a local wireless network infrastructure in the Dutch town of Leiden initiated, designed, and maintained by a local community of users.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?