OI Lab: enabling SME digital transformation through co-creation

This paper shares insights from the development of a practice-orientated approach to open innovation through the OI Lab: a dedicated platform to facilitate co-creation for digitalisation for SMEs. This responds to the need to accelerate realisation of Industry 4.0 through SMEs as critical actors, with the OI Lab enabling access to technological resources and knowledge beyond the confines of the firm. Development of OI Lab is rooted in a comprehensive data set, deriving from longitudinal study of open innovation practices, a knowledge transfer partnership and participatory action research involving exploratory discussions, focus groups and concept testing. This results in a functional platform that facilitates OI for SMEs looking to digitalise, offering a transformative resource that consolidates theory and practice to action open innovation.