Delivering on societal impacts through open innovation: a framework for government laboratories

Public research organizations and other government laboratories (PROs) around the world are being challenged to show how their research is contributing to public benefits and to commercialization in the private sector. At the same time, the private sector they are expected to connect with is challenged to define and further develop their business models in an increasingly open innovation environment. PROs have multi-dimensional ties with open innovation environments through their regulatory, policy, and program (e.g., research and innovation) activities. Thus, it can be expected that PROs not only affect and are affected by changes in business models among companies, but they also need to develop their own models to remain relevant and effective. As the equivalent of private sector business models, we propose six impact models for science-based government organizations. This framework provides a nuanced understanding of the contributions of PROs to open innovation environments. We illustrate its application and document a number of emerging impact models in a case study of Natural Resources Canada, a science-based department of the Canadian federal government involved in many industries and with numerous external contacts.