Linking technology and social innovation ecosystems (POSITIVE)

The innovation ecosystems of the social and technology sectors are not sufficiently linked, although they could complement each other effectively with their respective skills. Social innovators need the expertise of technology innovators in digitization, networking and business skills. On the other hand, tech innovators should be sensitized to current societal challenges and address them with the participation of social innovators.

The POSITIVE project addressed this potential and offers knowledge transfer, training, and mutual understanding for both innovation ecosystems. A special feature is the implementation of three 'Open Innovation Challenges' (OIC), modeled on the UX Challenges from the technology sector. In the three partner countries—Lithuania, Germany, and Italy—students, social innovators, and mentors worked together to solve digital challenges faced by social enterprises. Fifteen unique solutions were proposed, covering applications for accessibility, social engagement, and the promotion of traditional crafts. The results helped social enterprises to improve their digital systems or digitize labor-intensive processes. In Germany, for example, the winning team developed a digital booking system for sign language services and earned praise for addressing the barriers faced by the hearing impaired.

To enable the replication of such a POSITIVE Impact Challenge, the consortium created a practical, freely available guide, the POSITIVE Impact Challenge Playbook.

The POSITIVE project came to a grand conclusion at the Social Enterprise and Innovation Forum, a renowned annual event in Lithuania attended by over 30 speakers from 12 countries. The forum featured presentations of the results and discussions on the connection between the social and tech innovation ecosystems.

The project consortium included partners from both innovation ecosystems located in Italy, Lithuania and Germany to implement the linkage at regional and European level.

As project partner, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum supported:

• the coordination of the project implementation
• the implementation of the German POSITIVE Impact Challenge
• the exploitation of the developed training and OIC toolkits through the organization of a Pan-European Follow-Up Event and the dissemination in relevant networks

Further information:

• Project Name Acronym: POSITIVE - Participatory Open Social Innovation Through Interlinking Valuable-Ecosystems
• Funding: European Commission, HORIZON EUROPE
• Funding budget for the whole project all partners: 499 982 EUR
• Participating countries: Germany, Italy, Lithuania
• Project duration: 02/2023 – 11/2024