The digitalization of the innovation process: Challenges and opportunities from a management perspective

As various scholars have pointed out, the exponential growth in digital technologies has resulted in significant improvements to many business processes, and has also played a significant role in the field of innovation. The purpose of this paper is to organise the contributions of this special issue according to a framework that considers three topics currently being debated extensively in literature: innovation inputs, innovation processes and innovation outcomes.

Papers in this special issue adopt both qualitative and quantitative approaches based on the purpose of the study, which gives also a methodological variety to the special issue.

Papers in this special issue show that because of digital technologies: first, inputs are progressively becoming interrelated, making most of innovation endeavours happening in inter-organizational ecosystems of actors; second, innovation processes are gradually being compressed, anticipating and enhancing the phases in which customer feedback is gathered and employed; and finally, innovation outputs are increasingly taking the form of platforms used to create value by matching the supply of an asset with demand.

The value of this and other papers included in the special issue consists of embracing the topic of digital innovation from a managerial standpoint, contributing to the understanding of how the innovation process and other business processes may be affected by the use of digital technologies.