The Open and User Innovation (OUI) Society and the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard and Harvard Business School cordially invite you to the 23rd Annual International Conference on Open and User Innovation.
For over two decades, the OUI Conference has served as a leading forum for research on how users, communities, and open systems drive innovation. In 2026, as generative and agentic AI technologies become embedded in the infrastructure of work and creativity, the locus of innovation is undergoing a profound transformation. Innovation is no longer driven solely by individual users or open communities, but increasingly by human–AI collectives that depend on large-scale computational infrastructures with real economic, environmental, and societal consequences.
This year’s conference explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping the foundations of open and user innovation. We invite scholars to examine how AI reshapes collaboration, expertise, and governance across users, communities, firms, and teams. Through keynote talks, paper sessions, and interactive discussions, the conference aims to advance theory, evidence, and methods for understanding innovation in an era where human-AI collaboration is becoming a central organizing principle of creative work and organizational decision-making.
Important Dates
| February 10, 2026 | Registration and abstract submission opening |
| May 10, 2026 | Abstract submission closes |
| June 10, 2026 | Authors are notified of acceptance |
| July 1, 2026 | Deadline for at least one author being registered for presentation to be in included in the program |
| July 27–28, 2026 | OUI Conference in Boston |