Evaluating the public value of social innovation

Abstract

Services that were traditionally delivered by the public sector are now proving difficult for the state to afford due to economic and socio-political challenges faced by society. In this context, social innovation plays an important role as it encourages civil society, private, public and third sector organisations to work together to find alternative ways of delivering services. This paper evaluates the influence of social innovation in creating public value through services offered to the community at both local and national levels in the UK. Three diverse cases are used from the UK context and analysed through a public value lens to examine the role of community, private, public and third sector organisations in driving social innovation. The findings highlight how social innovation contributes to addressing civil society needs while simultaneously contributing to the political and economic agendas of a country and the exploitation of science for the benefit of communities.