This morning in Coimbra, the birth of another Living Lab is announced. The concept that has created virtual innovation networks that bring together companies and institutional partners all over Europe is being applied again, this time as part of an initiative coordinated by ISA – Intelligent Sensing Anywhere and which is focused on the areas of energy efficiency, health and well-being.
As explained to TeK Maria João Benquerença, coordinator of the initiative, the Living Lab is a concept that brings together companies and other entities, around a development environment that aims to cover the entire product chain.
«The current consumer is no longer very willing to respond to closed products». «The idea is to create an environment that promotes the development of applications and products» that go beyond this concept, says the person in charge.
Each partner can propose projects and count on the help of all the other members of the network, or only part of them. The result can be applied to the entities directly involved, or generate new products that have to be placed on the market through new companies created by the promoters of the initiatives.
The model is open and the idea is to limit or limit as little as possible the action of each of the entities involved. By the end of July, however, a coordinating structure for ISaLL (Intelligent Sensing and Smart Services Living Lab) should be created, which will aim to boost the network and build bridges between partners. Companies like Cisco, EPD Inovação, but also universities and other Living Labs are part of this network.
This is not the first Living Lab to be born in Portugal. There are other networks oriented to different areas of interest and specialization of partners, such as the Living Lab created by the city council of Penela oriented to the theme of the rural environment. To mark the launch of ISaLL, ISA organizes a workshop related to the themes of energy and health.
