Places and spaces of collaborative R&D and innovation: navigating the role of physical and virtual contexts

Abstract

The context in which collaborative R&D and innovation activities take place is a critical driver of success and failure. However, innovation management research tends to often abstract the context away, leaving the crucial contingency factors unaddressed. This special issue explores multifaceted collaborative R&D and innovation contexts across physical and virtual domains. An array of ten articles dissect various contexts, including cross-sector partnerships, innovation hubs, living labs, makerspaces, and virtual collaboration spaces and communities, highlighting their impact on innovation processes and outcomes. In this editorial, we develop a ‘Collaborative Innovation Space Matrix’ to firstly integrate the insights from the special issue focusing on collaboration dynamics and type of spaces and, secondly, to propose a call for action for innovation researchers to better understand the crucial role of context in collaborative R&D and innovation.