Open Innovation Ecosystems support and development: a case-study

Open Innovation Ecosystems are regarded as a subset of Innovation Ecosystems in which all involved actors’ primary scope is Open Innovation, and most of the activities carried out by the ecosystem participants are defined as Open Innovation activities. Yet, particular gaps in the literature limit our understanding of how Open Innovation activities can support the development of an ecosystem, especially those activities employed by participants that engage with a large firm or with the ecosystem orchestrator. For this reason, this study aims at exploring the role of ecosystem actors in supporting the development of an Open Innovation Ecosystem. Through an in-depth longitudinal case-study of “ORA! – Outpost Ravenna for Energy Transition”, the present study aims to fill this gap by investigating the Open Innovation activity of the ecosystem members that collaborate with Eni, the leading Italian multinational energy company operating in the oil and gas sector, in developing its Open Innovation Ecosystem support initiative.