How can innovation activities of online communities be better assessed? The Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the Technical University of Berlin have now investigated this question. In their research project "Peer Innovation", the institutions have developed an open-source toolbox that can examine the innovation activities of peer communities.
Using the open source toolbox "PICI", selected indicators can be applied to content from online forums. According to the institute, this allows innovation activities to be measured and creative online networks to be made tangible for innovation research. For example, innovation activities in the fields of energy, transport and urban development are evaluated.
The open source toolbox is intended to make it easier for scientists, politicians and operators of online forums to recognize the innovation potential of peer communities. Once the innovations have been identified, appropriate research and funding can be carried out. Interested parties can find the open-source toolbox at phihes.github.io/pici/. The researchers are now interested in other researchers taking up their methods and developing them further.
Sources: peer-innovation.de/phihes.github.io/pici
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