Abstract
Among the measures proposed by the European Union to encourage technological innovation and employment, the Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISP), hosted by the European Commission, defined a model of “user-centered innovation”. The European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), a body at arm length distance from the European Union, is in charge of the accreditation of living labs, research and development units – public or private – that adopt this model. The analysis of the institutional dynamic among these three levels puts forward the unforeseen evolution of the model itself. Conceived as a mean of attaining the ends determined by the EU, user-centered innovation has become an end in itself, applicable to a variety of questions and projects.