Business models for digital innovation intermediaries: evidence from the digital innovation hubs initiative

Innovation intermediaries are increasingly mobilized in policy programs to support the adoption and diffusion of digital technologies. Yet we still have a limited understanding of how different types of organizations enact this role and which business models they adopt. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 20 (European) Digital Innovation Hubs in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK, we investigate how intermediaries create and deliver value in policy-driven digital transition initiatives. We identify four recurrent business model configurations that combine technology/sector, or territorial focus (value proposition) with centralized or decentralized governance (value delivery), each associated with specific organizational forms such as Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs), business associations, territorial development organizations, and technology and knowledge transfer networks. The study clarifies how organizational characteristics shape the enactment of digital intermediation and offers guidance for the design and targeting of future policy initiatives.