 Managing the “Fuzzy front end” of open digital service innovation in the public sector: A methodologyMary Tate, Ivano Bongiovanni, Marek Kowalkiewicz and Peter Townson International Journal of Information Management, 2018, vol. 39, issue C, 186-198 Abstract: There are many obstacles to effective open innovation in the public sector context, especially at the “fuzzy front end” (FFE), where the need or opportunity is known but serious resources have not yet been committed to possible solutions. In this paper, we report on a theoretically inspired and practically tested methodology for FFE public sector digital innovation. The methodology was purpose-built for the context and has been progressively refined using reflection-on-practice, but broadly consists of a hybrid of private sector open innovation practices, and agile software development processes. We outline the background, context, principles, stages and artefacts. Then we evaluate the method in terms of barriers and opportunities to FFE public sector innovation. We note that establishing the necessary context: a nurturing environment; cross-agency commitments in cash and in kind; and boundary spanning appointments, is as important to success as is the detailed execution of the method. Keywords: Digital innovation; Public sector; Fuzzy front end; Methodology (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ininma:v:39:y:2018:i:c:p:186-198 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.11.008 Access Statistics for this article International Journal of Information Management is currently edited by Yogesh K. Dwivedi More articles in International Journal of Information Management from Elsevier |
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