Assessing technology-driven entrepreneurship by leveraging on Crowdsourcing and Collective Intelligence: Towards a Knowledge Hub on innovative startups in the Regional Ecosystem

Purpose – “Are our region’s achievements in technology-driven entrepreneurship (TdE) productive of growth?”; “How are regional achievements in TdE emerging, and what forces propel or hinder TdE in our regional contest?”. Answering to these questions within a Learning Region requires an assessment effort based on openness, which includes several sources of information and viewpoints, and cooperation of stakeholders and experts. At this purpose, this paper aims to present a prototype of a “Knowledge Hub” focused on the evaluation of innovative early-stage startups. We focus on the architecture of the Knowledge Hub, its founding principles, the evaluation criteria, as well as the main results achieved after its preliminary application in evaluating 36 innovative startups who won a contest in the Apulia region (Italy) from 2008 onward. Design/methodology/approach – The Hub leverages on crowdsourcing and collective intelligence from experts and professionals sharing information and discussing viewpoints about technology startups, with the aim to evaluate their performance. The crowdsourcing dimension refers to the data sources (typology and ownership) used to perform the evaluation of a given startup, whereas the collective intelligence mechanisms inspire the evaluation method. Originality/value – When talking about technology startups, our national and regional experience today shows that “hypes” dominate over evidence-based information. Refusing transplanted approaches and imitated policies means also promoting reflexivity and evidence-based new knowledge. Practical implications – The adoption of Knowledge Hub’s processes and methodology for monitoring the impact of innovative startups, and the active involvement of actors and stakeholders in the Technology Startup Ecosystem, may support a continuing assessment of TdE to improve the quality of regional strategies and programmes designed for the development and growth of specific territories. Evidence from the preliminary analyses shows peaks of dissimilarity between common sense powered by conventional media and actual outcomes,so suggesting the need for a more realistic approach in policy making for regional development.