Living Labs are Research projects in which User adoption and behavior with new products is studied in real-life conditions, instead of in Research Lab conditions.
In support of your startup business or research project, iLab.o provides these services:
* Panel Management: we will find and motivate your test users to use the product and give valuable feedback which triggers further user-driven innovation. Our back-end records all feedback and logging, and is a treasure cave for selecting test user profiles
* Methodology: Living Lab projects require a specific approach: iLab.o will help you define which steps are necessary for your project and how we should execute them
* Prototyping: Have a great idea for a back-end service but no front-end site or app yet? Our team of designer/developers can whip you up a quick prototype or help you in shaping one that is fit for use and collecting feedback
* Business Modeling: The service looks and feels great, but you need 5 companies to put it together? We can help you find the right business model by coördinating workshops supported by visual multitouch-enabled simulation of how you want to do business with each other.
* European Access: iLab.o hosts the Brussels Office for the European Network of Living Labs: this organization connects over 250 Living Labs throughout the world and can be a gateway to take your product abroad, without having to officially organize a foreign product launch.
In Flanders, iLab.o is a strategic partner in 5 different Living Labs, from ICT-based Living Labs asLeylab, Flellap and the Mediatuin to Electrical Vehicle Living Labs as iMove and EVA. Next to these Living Labs, we coordinate and participate in a series of European large scale pilots like Apollon,EPIC and SmartIP (CIP IST PSP Program), as well as supporting local ICON, PIM and other projects.
2. Why Living Labs?
Main driver of value on Internet: User-driven Innovation
User no longer problem, but solution: creates value
=> involve users in innovation process
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3. 15 Years of Living Labs
In-house real-life labs
MIT Labs,
Philips HomeLab
City labs
Helsinki Virtual Village,
i-City Hasselt
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4. Technologies are
not consumed,
but domesticated
by users.
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5. Living Labs as Open Innovation Platforms
Living Lab as open innovation platform Ballon, Pierson & Delaere, 2005
Real-life experimental introduction of new services and
products
Local and Trusted environment
Critical Mass of users
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Public-Private-People Partnership
6. The Trouble with Users
Who are
they?
How will they
use your
product?
How (high) do
they value
your product?
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9. Create world-class facilities
Develop and maintain worldwide
leading experimental ICT and
Internet technical and user
research facilities that
strengthen the position of the
Flemish industry within a global
market and that will contribute to
a sustainable smart society.
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10. The iLab.o offering
What do we offer?
• From need
Need • To concept User selection and management
finding
New methods for usage logging
and monitoring
Application co-design
• From concept Strategy & policy tools
• To prototype
Shaping
What are the results?
User & Social requirements
• From prototype Market Potential & Business
Business • To business model models
Modelling Co-designed and Validated
products/services
11. Living Labs
Panel Living Lab Prototyping & Simulate Your European
Management Methodology testing Business Network of
Living Labs
We’ll find and We’ll show you how We’ll model a rough Draw, discuss and
motivate your test- to set up a living lab idea into a usable simulate your value
project app for daily life and chain and business iLab.o hosts the
users Brussels Office for
test it through model on the fly
ENoLL
A A toolbox for any project type: ICON, Living Lab, CIP, FP7, …
toolbox for any project type: ICON, Living Lab, CIP, FP7, …
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14. Current Flagship Projects
Providing SMEs access
to the European Market
Space through cross- Crossmedia innovation
border networks of lab.
Living Labs
Using IBM’s cloud
infrastructure to Flemish Fibre-to-the
implement mash-ups of Home Living Lab testing
e-Gov and business city ultra-broadband
services services in Kortrijk.
Combining city data with Focusing on Smart
the ideas of citizens in Cities, Smart Grids and
creating new Smart Media,
applications throughout Flanders.
15. Flanders going abroad
Selected as First Wave ENoLL member (2006)
Founding member of ENoLL association (2010)
Hosting the ENoLL secretariat in Brussels
Elected as International Secretary
Developing and hosting the new ENoLL websites
and newsletter
4 Partner Living Labs in 5th Wave (2011)
This interface, including location-based applications dates back to 2007 and was the result of the I-City Project, in which companies HP and Microsoft collaborated to use Living Lab users and refine this technology. While user feedback was promising and user application ideas cutting edge, even by today’s measures, the technological outcomes were never truly adopted by neither Microsoft nor HP, who treated the project more as a localized branding project, more than a true core research project.In 2008-2010, it was Apple who finally commoditized apps with small resource footprints for dedicated tasks, much like i-City had developed earlier on.The story indicates that succesfull innovation needs a true ecosystem of users/co-creators, but also the business partners who are willing to think out of the box and take the user feedback seriously.Users are not willing sheep who simply accept the technology push, but customers who domesticate your offering as they see fit. Companies who acknowledge and accept this as part of their innovation cycle, are often much more succesfull at keeping up in this rapidly changing technology market.