Open Innovation Paradoxes: Toward a Paradigmatic Change for Defence

By Valérie Mérindol, David W. Versailles
No 74, 2024/2, pages 131 to 159
English

Defence innovation policies are in contradiction with open innovation because they are traditionally based on the search for stability of critical skills mastered by a closed perimeter of actors. Based on the study of the French case, this research investigates the open innovation paradoxes and how to manage them. Two innovation models co-exist and interact: closed innovation oriented toward the Defence Industrial and Technological Base (BITD), and open innovation aimed at links with a variety of innovation ecosystems. This hybrid model of innovation is based on differentiation, and integration modes of management orchestrated by an agency. This also requires the mobilization of a variety of intermediaries who play the role of sensors of ideas and skills external to the BITD.
JEL Codes: H56, L38, O36, O38