Citizens of Barcelona assemble a Smart Citizen Kit to access open data. Photo: Gui Seiz, All Rights Reserved.

This piece is an excerpt from an original article published as part of the eBook El ecosistema de la Democracia Abierta series, which can be found here.

Throughout
the previous years, innovation processes have undergone a constant evolution in
relation to the focus which they give to problems and their solutions, going
through different stages that start with producer innovation to user
innovation, and finally to consumer innovation.

However,
and given the fast-paced advances in technology of our times, it could be said
that we have arrived at a stage of open innovation or even free innovation,
where thanks to open sharing of knowledge, insights that play a key role in
conflict resolution can be detected.

However,
having arrived up until this point has not been due to chance or passing of
time. The combination of participation and citizen capacities with digital technology
and open and collaborative strategies are transforming innovation in every
environment. Aspects such as housing, food and health care are spheres that
have been dealt with during this process of change.

With
different examples of applied innovation, the article explains the diverse
solutions by means of citizen participation that could be created for issues of
a social nature. It also deals with contributory production, citizen labour,
citizen health and citizen nutrition and the political and public implications
that these initiatives have.

Ultimately, it highlights the importance of
establishing collaborative principles between cities and their citizens, in
such a way that ideas can be valued and recognised in processes of co-creation
of physical and digital spaces within a territory.

Additionally, it draws
attention to the importance of promoting and encouraging participation in these
initiatives though various types of incentives whilst emphasising the necessity
of deontological code and commitment that becomes the roadmap of open and
collaborative citizen based innovation.