Innovation, creativity and the application to a study of social housing in the UK

Innovation is a word that is used within industry and the provision of public services but what does it mean? This paper looks at the history of innovation, different academic definitions of what innovation means and different academic models of innovation. It looks at the relationship with creativity which has been highlighted as an important part of the innovation process. The paper then looks at academic studies on the application of innovation within the social housing sector in the United Kingdom. The paper identifies that innovation is either a new product or service or an existing product or service that is improved.