Living Labs

At the heart of open innovation, Alcimed supports its clients in setting up and developing Living Labs. We help you define your strategy, your service offering, and the most appropriate operational and partnership model according to the realities of your ecosystem.

Living Labs Agency Consulting firm Experts Specialists

Challenges related to Living Labs or open innovation labs

What is a Living Lab and what is collective innovation?

A Living Lab is a system of consultation, open innovation, and co-creation, bringing together public actors, private actors, companies, associations, research laboratories, communities, and users, in order to collectively develop and evaluate innovative solutions in technology, organization and services bringing new solutions for communities and society. The Living Lab certification can be awarded by the ENOLL association (European Network of Living Labs).

What are the challenges related to Living Labs?

Because of their experimental nature, setting up efficient Living Labs is not without challenges. Alcimed identifies three of the main ones:

Adopting a unique and relevant positioning

The French ecosystem is teeming with innovation structures in the healthcare sector, and in particular Living Labs. It is necessary to adopt a unique positioning that is consistent with the strengths of the territory and has a high potential for experimentation. This reinforces the need to determine a clear goal, missions, activities, and objectives when designing the tool.

How do we differentiate ourselves? How do we become a vector of attractiveness on its territory?

Becoming part of the existing territorial reality

Establishing an open innovation lab in the territory requires aligning themes and activities with other active structures in the region. These include not only the Living Labs, but also all the other structures that support innovation: SATT, incubators, etc. Establishing the legitimacy of the laboratory's positioning in the territory is an essential step to strengthen its role as a coordination leader.

How do we bring together stakeholders and get them involved in the innovation ecosystem of the territory?

Developing a sustainable operating model

In order to prevent its ecosystem from slowing down, an open innovation lab must rely on a tangible and sustainable operating model. This implies defining a sustainable funding model, stabilized management, mastery of research and innovation processes and Living Lab methodologies, as well as a flexible organization. This living laboratory must also be able to effectively mobilize a network of partners, in order to be able to experiment in real situations.

How do we develop a model and make its activities sustainable?

Have a project? Write us!

How do we support you in your Living Lab projects?

Alcimed has supported the design of Living Labs projects as well as the repositioning of already mature Living Labs. Our team relies on its ability to design the most appropriate tool possible (high added value strategy and a clear and coherent offer coupled with an efficient operating model), as well as its knowledge of the realities of the “life” of this type of tool. We also have the capacity to mobilize a network of experts in this type of process and source international feedback.

The stakeholders we support in this process are often local authorities (groups of municipalities, agglomerations, regions, etc.), but our team also supports other public and private players (associations, federations, start-ups, etc.).

The types of projects we carry out for our clients are:

Test & Learn approaches
Customer experience
Product innovation
Business models
New services
New offers
Open innovation

Strategic positioning
Innovation strategy
Business plan
Market study
Collaborative projects
Value proposition
Search for funding opportunities

Search for partners
Roadmap
Benchmark
Opportunity evaluation
Learning expedition
Dossier creation

A project? Contact our explorers!

EXAMPLES OF RECENT PROJECTS CARRIED OUT FOR OUR CLIENTS IN THE FIELD OF LIVING LABS

Setting up a Living Lab for a hospital focused on health and independence (aging, preventing falls, etc.)

As part of a Living Lab project for a hospital, our team carried out a benchmark and exploratory interviews to take stock of the needs of the ecosystem in the region, as well as the key success factors and pitfalls to be avoided. Our teams provided help in defining and consolidating the Living Lab project: positioning; ambition and roadmap; legal, financial, organizational, and partnership arrangements; points of differentiation and complementarity with existing initiatives. Finally, we supported the construction of the Living Lab offer and the animation of the ecosystem and communication to federate around the project.

Assessing the opportunity to create a Living Lab in the structuring of a Silver Economy sector for a metropolitan area

Alcimed supported the metropolitan area of Nice in the structuring of an economic sector in digital health by assessing the interest of the Silver Economy and the opportunity to create a “Gérontopôle” (gerontology pole) and a Living Lab. The latter was therefore part of a more global reflection to identify levers to improve the welfare and well-being of the elderly while contributing to economic development and support for innovation and experimentation within the metropolitan area.

Preparations and deployment of a Sport Santé Living Lab

Following an in-depth market study, Alcimed advised stakeholders from a territory in Eastern France gathered around an open innovation living lab, helping them to define a high added value offer in the creation of a Living Lab. The support of our team focused mainly on defining the operating model of the Living Lab, including an economic modeling of the tool and the predefinition of its resource requirements and its mode of operation within the ecosystem.

Assessment and strategic repositioning of a leading French Living Lab in health and independence

Alcimed worked on redefining the Agreement on Objectives and Means of a leading Living Lab in France in the field of health and independence with the aim of facilitating and and making its missions more fluid. This support made it possible to prioritize the strategic areas of action of the Living Lab, identify high added value projects, review governance, and build a monitoring strategy to "reassure" investors while maintaining some flexibility.

WHO IS ALCIMED?

Founded in 1993, Alcimed is an innovation and new business consulting firm, specializing in innovation driven sectors: life sciences (healthcare, biotech, agrifood), energy, environment, mobility, chemicals, materials, cosmetics, aeronautics, space and defence.

Our purpose? Helping both private and public decision-makers explore and develop their uncharted territories: new technologies, new offers, new geographies, possible futures, and new ways to innovate.

Located across eight offices around the world (France, Europe, Singapore and the United States), our team is made up of 220 highly-qualified, multicultural and passionate explorers, with a blended science/technology and business culture.

Our dream? To build a team of 1,000 explorers, to design tomorrow's world hand in hand with our clients.