Spontaneous Public Value Co‐Creation in Open Professional Topic‐Based Digital Spaces: A Multicase Study of French Public Professionals' Open Digital Collaboration

ABSTRACT Existing research has advanced valuable reflection on the effect of digital technologies on public‐value co‐creation (PVAC). This research pursues this reflection by questioning whether and, where appropriate, how professional collaboration spontaneously performed within open professional topic‐based digital spaces (OPDSs) could contribute to PVAC. Using a framework built on narrative‐based process analysis, this multicase study examines three microcases observed within two OPDSs of French public professionals via a netnography process consisting of an ethnography process applied in the context of digital spaces. The analysis shows that (1) in the context of the observed OPDSs, spontaneous professional collaboration might facilitate but do not systematically lead to PVAC, (2) OPDSs could include potential heterogeneous stakeholders for PVAC and technically shape their motivations and contributions, and (3) a balance between the spontaneity of demands and the spontaneity of contributions is conclusive for the effective achievement of PVAC in this context.