Public innovation labs in France are relatively recent structures that have been proliferating within public administrations at various levels (national, regional, and municipal). These labs are dedicated spaces for experimenting with new approaches to improve public policies and administrative services. They aim to foster collaboration between public officials, citizens, researchers, and businesses to co-create innovative solutions. Research on public innovation labs in France can significantly contribute to the existing literature by providing insights into successes, failures, and lessons learned in a specific institutional context.

This thesis aims to assess the role and functions of public innovation labs in driving innovation within the French public sector, identify the key success factors and challenges associated with the operation of French public innovation labs, and analyze the impact of local public innovation labs on public sector innovation outcomes.

The work on the thesis will proceed as follows:
Literature about public innovation labs and their role and impacts will be collected and studied. Based on this a research design will be prepared for studying situation in France. Research will be conducted with a qualitative approach (based on single or multiple case study research design) combining analysis of secondary sources (literature and official documents) as well as semi-structured interviews. This would allow a quite in-depth exploration of the role and functions of public innovation labs within their specific organizational and contextual settings. In addition, it would also help to capture both subjective perceptions and objective data regarding the operational dynamics of innovation labs while looking for a comprehensive understanding of public innovation labs’ success factors and challenges.