Collective awareness platform for sustainability and social innovation (CAPS): Understanding them and analysing their impacts

Abstract

The paper describes the Collective Awareness Platform for Sustainability and Social Innovation domain (CAPS) by using an “inside” perspective, as it is based on the research work of a CAPS project entitled IA4SI-Impact Assessment for Social Innovation. The paper first defines Digital Social Innovation as the technological enabled version of Social Innovation and describes CAPS projects consequently. Then, it presents the framework of the quanti-qualitative methodology developed by the IASI project for analysing the impact of CAPS projects. It considers four main areas of impact: social, economic, political and environmental. Each aspect is then articulated in several sub-categories required in order to map a multi-dimensional and internally diversified domain such as CAPS.