Medium and small-sized enterprises increasingly depend on innovation for success. Open Innovation is a new paradigm that allows companies to collaborate during specific phases of their innovation process, enabling them to leverage external ideas and alternative market pathways. This approach is particularly vital in the innovation-driven digital economy, where successful open partnerships involve customers, researchers, or partners enhancing a company's competencies. However, managing Open Innovation requires specific skills and experiences, making support in infrastructure and analytical frameworks essential. This book presents theories, tools, and support mechanisms discussed at the International Symposium on Support for Open Innovation processes, featuring insights from researchers and practitioners in the field. The first part explores various approaches to managing Open Innovation, emphasizing competence development, community awareness, and the implementation of the Open Innovation paradigm in enterprises. It also proposes social software-based services to enhance the Open Innovation process. The second part includes case studies from SMEs in the digital economy, analyzing three specific cases—Web 2.0 learning, Open Source Innovation, and Virtual Worlds platforms—through the theoretical frameworks established earlier in the book.
