Paper NO.48: The visibility of ethics in open innovation platforms

Paper NO.48

The visibility of ethics in open innovation platforms
Dimitra Chasanidou, Amela Karahasanović

Abstract
Open innovation platforms (OIPs) are applied to service businesses and aim to increase service innovation, by engaging users and encouraging them to submit ideas, share content, and invite others to participate. The employment of OIPs raises several ethical issues, such as fairness, ownership, and privacy. One approach for addressing these issues is to raise the visibility of ethics on the platform. Following a systematic approach, this paper explores the topic of the visibility of ethics in OIPs, by reviewing related ethical issues and evaluating the application of ethics by OIPs in practice. We conclude with reflections on design and suggestions for practitioners. The visibility of ethics is seen as a proactive design state, and we argue that it can both improve service innovation through OIPs, and improve the fairness of relationships between customers and companies.