<s>
Innovation	B-General_Concept
Intermediaries	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
concept	O
in	O
innovation	O
studies	O
to	O
help	O
understand	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
firms	O
,	O
agencies	O
and	O
individuals	O
that	O
facilitate	O
innovation	O
by	O
providing	O
the	O
bridging	O
,	O
brokering	O
,	O
knowledge	O
transfer	O
necessary	O
to	O
bring	O
together	O
the	O
range	O
of	O
different	O
organisations	O
and	O
knowledge	O
needed	O
to	O
create	O
successful	O
innovation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
open	B-General_Concept
innovation	I-General_Concept
intermediaries	I-General_Concept
was	O
used	O
for	O
this	O
concept	O
by	O
Henry	O
Chesbrough	O
in	O
his	O
2006	O
book	O
as	O
"	O
companies	O
that	O
help	O
other	O
companies	O
implement	O
various	O
facets	O
of	O
open	O
innovation	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Innovation	B-General_Concept
intermediaries	I-General_Concept
are	O
variously	O
described	O
as	O
'	O
bridgers	O
 '	O
,	O
'	O
change	O
agents	O
 '	O
,	O
'	O
brokers	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Open	B-General_Concept
innovation	I-General_Concept
Intermediaries	I-General_Concept
are	O
responsible	O
for	O
facilitating	O
the	O
open	O
innovation	O
activity	O
that	O
companies	O
are	O
undertaking	O
,	O
focusing	O
on	O
fully	O
exploiting	O
the	O
benefits	O
of	O
the	O
mutual	O
action	O
and	O
thoroughly	O
mitigating	O
the	O
disadvantages	O
and	O
risks	O
for	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
an	O
economic	O
perspective	O
,	O
innovation	B-General_Concept
intermediaries	I-General_Concept
create	O
multi-sided	O
markets	O
by	O
delivering	O
value	O
to	O
several	O
agents	O
on	O
a	O
matching	O
market	O
,	O
create	O
the	O
market	O
and	O
manage	O
the	O
matching	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
age	O
of	O
the	O
internet	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
increasing	O
numbers	O
of	O
online	O
services	O
and	O
platform	O
that	O
explicitly	O
try	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
innovation	B-General_Concept
intermediary	I-General_Concept
,	O
including	O
technology	O
matchmaking	O
services	O
,	O
crowdfunding	O
and	O
crowdsourcing	O
services	O
,	O
meetup	O
sites	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Innovation	B-General_Concept
intermediaries	I-General_Concept
have	O
always	O
played	O
a	O
key	O
role	O
in	O
innovation	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
agricultural	O
middlemen	O
in	O
16th	O
,	O
17th	O
and	O
18th	O
century	O
Britain	O
who	O
not	O
only	O
bought	O
and	O
sold	O
wool	O
,	O
but	O
facilitated	O
the	O
transfer	O
of	O
knowledge	O
of	O
new	O
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
