Value creation through collective intelligence: managing intellectual capital

The contribution of intellectual capital to value creation beyond individual companies into wider society, as described in the fourth stage of intellectual capital research, is of particular relevance for the public sector where organizations have a stewardship responsibility. They should engage stakeholders into value co-creation by developing organizational and ecosystem collective intelligence through traditional as well as innovative tools such as online technologies. Yet, the relationship between intellectual capital and value creation often remains a relatively unexplored process within public administration. This paper focuses on the case study of a regional agency in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, which is not only responsible for assistance, regulation and service delivery, but also for engaging its stakeholders and the public at large to disseminate knowledge to promote values and appropriate behaviour in the policy areas it is responsible for. The research looks at the role played by intellectual capital in the agency’s value creation strategies and how the agency’s structure and processes influence the development and management of intellectual capital in an effort to create value for its ecosystem. The research not only validates the existence of ecosystem frameworks in public administration and the key role played by intellectual capital in their design, creation and implementation, but it also highlights the need in the public sector for a defined role for intellectual capital, stakeholder engagement and collective intelligence in governance models. In particular, findings underline the need for new intellectual capital management systems based on a collective intelligence approach within multi-stakeholder co-creation frameworks in a public service ecosystem logic, reflecting the public sector’s evolving role and the new tools developed with the advent of new technologies.