We’re all innovators now: How users are changing the rules of innovation

Published
July 2008 

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We’re all innovators now: How users are changing the rules of innovation (PDF, 78 KB)

Description 

User-led innovation – where users play an active part in the development of new or improved products and services – is exploding. Proliferating digital technologies mean that we’re all potential innovators now. New firms based on user innovation are being sold for hundreds of millions of dollars only a few years after being founded.

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Policymakers remain somewhat sceptical about the importance of user-led innovation. But if the UK is to harness this new wave of invention and creativity, it needs to develop world-leading policy to support it. This means being more aware of the impact of new legislation on user-led innovation, and establishing a policy forum, investment fund and measurement system that are tailored to the specific needs of these new inventors.