A Collaborative Innovation Network, or CoIN, is a social construct used to describe innovative teams^{[clarification needed]}. It has been defined by the originator of the term, Peter Gloor (a Research Scientist at MIT Sloan's Center for Collective Intelligence) as "a cyberteam of self-motivated people with a collective vision, enabled by the Web to collaborate in achieving a common goal by sharing ideas, information, and work."

COINs feature internal transparency and direct communication. Members of a COIN collaborate and share knowledge directly with each other, rather than through hierarchies. They come together with a shared vision because they are intrinsically motivated to do so and seek to collaborate in some way to advance an idea.

The five essential elements of collaborative innovation networks (what Gloor calls their "genetic code") are as follows:

1. Evolve from learning networks^{[clarification needed]}
2. Feature sound ethical principles
3. Based on trust and self-organization
4. Make knowledge accessible to everyone
5. Operate in internal honesty and transparency