Government, industry, and research collaboration is important. Governments are developing instruments for stimulating innovation within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Researchers are expected to focus on solving economic, environmental, and social problems. Enterprises need new solutions to survive in global markets. Traditionally, co-creation is a tool for collaborating between researchers and industry during the innovation development process. In this study, a methodological framework for government-research-industry co-creation in the pre-competitive innovation phase was developed and tested. It was piloted with a group of six researchers and nine enterprises from Latvia co-creating solutions for sustainable food packaging. The experiment was a targeted intervention by a public administration body to facilitate industry-research collaboration, thus strengthening SMEs competitiveness. The study demonstrated that the developed methodological framework is a useful tool for professionals involved in the day-to-day facilitation of collaboration between researchers and businesses, such as business support and development professionals and innovation project managers. It is appropriate for laying the groundwork for more in-depth industrial research or experimental development between researchers and businesses. Professional moderation is critical in the co-creation process, and it is more enriching if the pool of participating enterprises consists of SMEs and larger enterprises covering the value chain of the explored topic. The bridging co-creation phase is appropriate for an online environment, whereas the experimental co-creation phase would benefit more from taking place in a physical setting. To achieve better results, it is important to choose narrower and more clearly defined problems. The co-creation process aids in the development of collaborative communication skills, the generation of ideas in a diverse group, and overall digital literacy.
