Innovation is considered to be the primary driving force of progress and prosperity. Consequently, much effort is put in developing new technical knowledge, new process technologies and new products. However, evidence from both SMEs and large firms shows that successful innovation is not just the result of technological inventions, but is also heavily dependent on what has been called “social innovation”.

Social innovation consists of changing a firm’s structure, its management procedures and the organization of work in a way that is new to the firm and/or the industry, and results in leverage of the firm’s technological knowledge base and its performance in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness.

Recent research based on the Erasmus Innovation and Competition Monitor shows that social innovation explains about 50-75% of the variance in innovation performance of Dutch firms. Consequently, more active stimulation of social innovation and its leverage of technological innovation will be crucial to improve the international competitiveness of the Dutch economy. However, only solid research can increase our understanding of what matters in various social innovations. Like technological changes require systematic R&D, the development and diffusion of social innovations require systematic research on the crucial determinants of success.

To realize this the importance of establishing a dedicated research institute to study social innovation and its effects on competitiveness, organizational performance, and human excellence has been widely recognized. Leading governmental and institutional actors in the field like Innovation Platform I and II, SER, NWO, the Ministry of Education (OCW), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment all have emphasized the necessity to rigorously investigate Social Innovation in this way.

As a joint initiative of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Maastricht University, TNO and University of Amsterdam, INSCOPE brings together an unprecedented combination of leading academic and applied researchers in all fields of social innovation. INSCOPE’s research will be highly innovative. Among others, field experiments will increase “evidence based” understanding of the impact of social innovation. The valorization of this research will be strengthed by INSCOPE’s affiliation with the Dutch Center for Social Innovation (NCSI) and relation with industrial firms and service organizations (both large firms and SMEs).

This close link to unions, employers’ federations and various other relevant organisations facilitates the diffusion and implementation of the know ledge created by INSCOPE, and the application of best and next practices in organizations in the Netherlands and abroad.