Taking stock and charting the future: the management and implications of DIY laboratories for innovation and society

Abstract

DiY science, as a field of research and practice, has grown rapidly over the past few decades. However, a significant portion of the DiY corpus focuses on technical issues in engineering and health disciplines, which limits our knowledge about the administration of DiY innovation and other related topics. To further advance the field, this special issue examines the management and implications of DiY laboratories for innovation and society. It contributes to a better understanding of the contextual and individual antecedents, operations, governance, business models, and strategies of DiY labs. The chosen papers, representing a mix of review, conceptual, and qualitative methodologies from across Africa, Asia, and Europe, provide different approaches and views that extend the current boundaries of extant knowledge regarding DiY labs and science. This special issue also highlights what remains to be pursued and outlines some interesting future research directions.