Orchestration of Innovation Networks
Summary
The orchestration of innovation networks refers to the deliberate design, coordination and alignment of multiple actors and resources to foster collective creativity and knowledge exchange. It encompasses the roles and activities of a central or distributed orchestrator that mobilises stakeholders—such as businesses, academic institutions, public bodies and civil society—to achieve shared innovation objectives. Effective orchestration balances autonomy and interdependence, adapts governance forms over time and navigates evolving network goals, complexity and external environments. Recent advances emphasise dynamic reconfiguration of governance, the emergence of distinct orchestration profiles tailored to network type and lifecycle, and the interplay between hierarchical coordination and more distributed modes—often described as choreography—in mature ecosystems. Practical applications span inter-organisational R & D consortia, urban innovation ecosystems, digital innovation contests and multi-stakeholder social networks, demonstrating global significance in addressing grand challenges through structured yet flexible collaboration.
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Orchestration of Innovation Networks publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in orchestration of innovation networks across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Innovation network: A structured set of inter-organisational relationships formed to develop, diffuse or apply innovations.
Orchestration: The deliberate coordination and alignment of network actors, resources and activities to achieve collective innovation goals.
Orchestrator: An individual or entity that guides governance configurations, mobilises participants and steers network processes.
Governance reconfiguration: The dynamic adjustment of coordination mechanisms and decision-making structures within a network.
Orchestration profile: A conceptual framework categorising typical patterns of orchestration practices—translative, transformative and transcending—matched to network types and objectives.
References
- Orchestrating governance reconfiguration of inter-organizational project networks to address coordination failures. International Journal of Production Economics (2025).
- Orchestrating innovation networks: Alignment and orchestration profile approach. Journal of Business Research (2022).
- From governance to choreography: coordination of innovation ecosystems. Innovation & Management Review (2021).
- Orchestrators of innovation networks in the city level: the case of Pacto Alegre. Innovation & Management Review (2021).
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