[Podcast] Social Innovation in the Digital Age: Emerging Trends and Opportunities for Sustainable Development

24 March, 2025

Keywords: Social Innovation; Development Trends; Sustainable Innovation; Sustainable Economy

In the context of globalization and the digital revolution, social innovation has emerged as an important solution to solve urgent social problems. The rapid development of technology and the change in social needs require creative solutions to achieve sustainability and equity. The research group from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) analyzed the trends and the prospects of social innovation to provide insights into how it can create lasting positive impacts for society.

Research Background

In the current era of globalization, countries and businesses are facing increasing competitive pressure and rapid changes in market demands. The advancement of technology has shortened product life cycles, placing strict requirements on innovation to maintain competitive advantage. In Vietnam, the transition from a manufacturing economy to a service and high-tech economy has brought about many social challenges, including environmental issues, youth employment, and educational inequality.

In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated many social issues listed as supply chain disruptions, vaccine rollout, and healthcare for vulnerable groups. In this context, social innovation has emerged as a potential solution to address these challenges. Events like TECHFEST 2021 have demonstrated that social innovation can create breakthrough changes when mobilizing the participation of many stakeholders listed as investors, government agencies, NGOs, and communities.

Although social innovation has existed for a long time, it has only attracted attention in recent years. There have been many unanswered questions regarding the relationship between social innovation and other innovation models, like social entrepreneurship. A clear understanding of the participants and the effectiveness of social innovation will help provide the necessary knowledge to promote initiatives that can create long-term positive impacts on society. For this reason, the UEHresearch group attempted to clarify the issues and to provide a theoretical and practical basis for the sustainable development of social innovation.

Theoretical framework of Social Innovation

Social innovation is a field of study regarding the application of creative methods to solve social and community problems. According to Hahn & Andor (2013), social innovation is beyond developing new solutions; rather, this includes implementing and managing them to create sustainable social value. Social innovation has the potential to change the way traditional problems are solved and to create better solutions to the challenges facing society. The theoretical framework of social innovation emphasizes the role of new models and services in improving life quality and solving pressing problems listed as climate change, health, and inequality. Marolt et al. (2015) argue that social innovation benefits direct participants and creates a broader positive impact on society. Social innovation initiatives can have a lasting and positive impact, contributing to sustainable development and improving living conditions for communities (Mulgan et al., 2007).

Overview of research from 2001 to 2024

From 2001 to 2024, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of articles published on social innovation (Figure 1). Specifically, the number of articles started from 1 in 2001 and peaked at 352 in 2022. However, the increase was not consecutive. After this peak, the number of articles decreased to 221 in 2024. This trend shows a period of strong growth from 2001 to 2022, reflecting the increasing interest in social innovation research during this period. Nevertheless, the significant decline in the recent period may indicate a change in the level of interest or challenges in maintaining attention to this field.

Figure 1: Statistical graph of social innovation publications by year

A detailed analysis presents a sharp increase from 2006 to 2015 and continuation from 2015 to 2020, with a growth rate of 301.4% over 5 years. In recent years, the growth rate has gradually declined, with an increase of only 3.5% from 2020 to 2021 and 17.7% from 2021 to 2022, before decreasing in 2022 to 2024. The fact that this reflects uneven attention may indicate the need for strategies to sustain interest and research in the field of social innovation.

Linkages between social innovation research

Research on social innovation reflects strong connections between various elements in the social innovation ecosystem (Figure 2). Social innovation research has connected various elements from different areas in the social innovation ecosystem. For example, Cassim’s (2020) study highlights the role of integrating creative learning methods into design education, demonstrating the strong connection between systems thinking and design for social innovation. This suggests that adopting new learning methods can lead to innovative solutions to complex social problems while supporting sustainable development.

Figure 2: Diagram of the connections between social innovation research

In addition, Tassinari, Piredda, & Bertolotti’s (2017) study introduces that the use of storytelling can promote community engagement and expand public spaces. This is related to the development of social initiatives and improved citizen participation in political and social decision-making. Other studies, like Sandberg and Hultberg (2021) on circular business models, emphasize the importance of combining dynamic capabilities and scaling strategies to sustain and grow sustainable initiatives in communities.

Social innovation in several fields

The co-citation analysis (Figure 3) means that social innovation has become an important concept in differing research fields, with four main thematic areas identified as follows:

(1) Social innovation and entrepreneurship: The blue cluster of studies emphasizes the role of social innovation in improving business performance while addressing social problems. Phillips et al. (2015) synthesized the studies on the role of entrepreneurs, networks, and institutions in social innovation and suggested a “systems of innovation” approach for future research.

(2) Social innovation and social change: The red group, represented by the work of Howaldt et al. (2016), focuses on the relationship between social innovation and transformative social change, with a social practice theory-based approach to analyzing these processes.

(3) Concepts and definitions of social innovation: The green group, led by Pol and Ville (2009), focuses on distinguishing between social innovation and business innovation, and emphasizes the need to clarify the concept of social innovation in academic research.

(4) Management and support of social innovation: The yellow group, represented by the work of Murray, Caulier-Grice, and Mulgan (2010), expands the perspective on how to manage and support social innovation in different fields, emphasizing the role of collaboration between creative individuals and large organizations in promoting social change.

Figure 3: Social Innovation in Selected Fields

Social Innovation Research Trends

Recently, social innovation research has witnessed a dramatic increase in both the quantity and quality of research articles. This increase reflects the growing interest of the research community in social and environmental issues. Factors listed as the growing awareness of the importance of social innovation in addressing global challenges, and the development of new research methods, have played an important role in promoting the expansion of research in this field.

The work of Cajaiba-Santana (2014) has developed an important theoretical framework on social innovation, emphasizing the role of entrepreneurs and networks in the development of innovative initiatives. Tim Brown & Jocelyn Wyatt (2007) pointed out that creative design and the involvement of innovators are essential. These factors not only provide the basis for social innovation projects but also play an important role in promoting their development and scale-up. Studies have illustrated that models of system transformation and scale-up are essential to ensure the success of social innovation.

Conclusions and policy implications

The results of this study highlight a significant increase in social innovation research, reflecting the growing interest in social and environmental issues over the past two decades. The number of publications in this field has increased sharply, from one in 2001 to 352 in 2022. This increase reflects the rapid development of the field and demonstrates the shift from theoretical research to practical applications. Despite a slight decline in the number of articles from 2022 to 2024, the overall growth trend remains, confirming the growing interest and research investment in social innovation.

Systems transformation models and scaling strategies have proven to be pivotal in ensuring the success of social innovation initiatives. The application of these models can improve efficiency and expand the scope of impact of initiatives, bringing more sustainable value. The increase in research in this field implies the development of the industry and emphasizes the urgent need to develop and to apply innovative methods to effectively solve social problems.

In addition, the trend of social innovation research indicates a shift from theoretical research to practical application, emphasizing the need for innovative and effective solutions in the current global context. The application of new technology and innovative design will create effective solutions and open up new directions for future research. Concurrently, this study helps to clarify the influencing factors and optimal methods to promote social innovation.

In short, research on social innovation has demonstrated that this is a constantly evolving field and plays an important role in solving global challenges. To continue to achieve sustainable and comprehensive development, it is necessary to further promote research and development of new models and methods. This not only helps improve the effectiveness of social innovation initiatives but also contributes to building a more equitable and sustainable society in the future.

Authors: Dr. Phan Thi Bao Quyen, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Quang Hung, Dr. Do Thi Hai Ninh – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH)

This article is part of the series spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the message “Research Contribution For All”. UEH cordially invites readers to read the next UEH Research Insights newsletter.

News, photos: The authors, UEH Department of Communications and Partnerships