Ideal Conditions for Innovation
Summerside’s Living Lab environment has been created so that companies, researchers, and developers can work directly with the community through a unique infrastructure.
The Living Lab enables product development, the creation of program applications and product testing in a real world setting. The Living Lab is the key to successful enterprise development in a real life environment.
We provide both virtual and physical assets that innovative enterprises require to develop and deploy solutions.
Our strength is our people, our infrastructure and our networks. All contribute to encouraging business innovation in a collaborative environment.
What is a Living Lab?
A Living Lab is a real-life test and experimentation environment where users and producers co-create innovations. Living Labs have been characterized by the European Commission as Public-Private-People Partnerships (PPPP) for user-driven open innovation. A Living Lab employs four main activities:
- Co-Creation: co-design by users and producers
- Exploration: discovering emerging usages, behaviours and market opportunities
- Experimentation: implementing live scenarios within communities of users
- Evaluation: assessment of concepts, products and services according to socio-ergonomic, socio-cognitive and socio-economic criteria (www.openlivinglabs.eu/aboutus).
For Summerside, a Living Lab is an environment (the geographic community) in which people and technology are gathered and in which the everyday context simulates and encourages research, development, innovation and ultimately commercialization. We provide both virtual and physical assets that allow enterprise/innovators to develop and deploy solutions. Our strength is our people, infrastructure and networks which further mutual interest in an open and collaborative way.
For more information about the City of Summerside as a living lab, contact:
Mike Thususka
Director of Economic Development
[email protected]
902-432-0103
City of Summerside, 275 Fitzroy Street, Summerside, PE C1N 1H9
Related City Documents:
Summerside Living Lab
Related External Links:
BigPossibilities.ca
Guardian Newspaper Article
Journal Pioneer Newspaper Article
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