Futuribles has carried out an international investigation on the theme  of innovation in social protection. The idea behind it was to identify  new principles, new projects and new mechanisms for the management of  social risks.

Three documents have been produced and discussed by international experts: a general statement concerning the status of social policies in France; a catalogue describing one hundred social innovations; a detailed study of ten of them, with a special focus on new technologies and new ways of involving users. All the information concerning this project can be found on the www.futuribles.com/psiaccueil.htm web site. A classical distinction is made between innovative products (new benefits) and procedural innovations (new technological or human infrastructures). A distinction is also made between innovations which break with the past (a new risk to be covered using new methods) and incremental innovations (improvements made to existing policies). Five major “types” of innovation have thus been “dissected”: innovation based on technological integration; innovation for political purposes; innovation involving new benefits; innovation based on simplification; innovation based on integrated one-stop shops and services. Particular emphasis has been placed on the study of dematerialized benefits and assessment techniques which offer freedom of choice to users.