The role of public funding in the initiation and upscaling of collective innovation trajectories

Our society is facing big challenges and public organizations have a key role in addressing these, as well as providing public funding for innovation. Many innovation projects however result in a proof-of-concept and deliver initial results but experience issues with upscaling further to realize impact. In the EU, innovation networks are emerging to steer promising innovations towards upscaling and implementation to realize impact. Managing multiple innovation trajectories towards implementation and impact, and allocating funds and other instruments to stimulate the upscaling process is not straightforward. In this paper we propose a process model that can be used as a high-level framework to manage multiple innovation trajectories. The model is developed in the context of the PEN-CP innovation network for customs professionals. Theoretically it builds upon and extends earlier research on upscaling collective innovations.