the westergasfabriek as a Living Lab
Picnic 07 Expertmeeting sept 28th 2007
"The Westergasfabriek as a Living Lab"
Columns by: Frank Kresin, Robert van Weperen and Roy van Dalm
Finding real Solutions
Column by Frank Kresin
"Our discussion was not about technology, not about money and not about global competition. It was about finding real solutions to real problems in society in general – and around corner of the Westergasfabriek. Problems in health care, education and the public domain. Solitude, lack of motivation, feelings of insecurity, issues about ethnicity and (lack of) tolerance.Real problems involving real people that need solutions involving many parties, often public bodies, non governmental organisations and citizens. Complex issues and situations that take years to be solved, if ever. Sometimes involving technology – sometimes not.
Precisely there is a place for the Living Lab. It will provide a common ground to meet, discuss and explore; it wil bring the different parties together; it will give their voices relevance, and work-out solutions to real problems with partners that matter. By involving the different stakeholders the living lab will produce sustainable results that just might be exportable to other regions – might be not.
This Living Lab is about linking people; it’s about building networks; about building trust. As Dutchmen say: trust that comes on foot and flees on horseback once violated. It will take time, but will come with a reward. Instead of very large projects (the mStudent, the mInvestor, mHealth) this Living Lab will start with it’s feet in the local mud. We’ll start several smaller projects, wide enough in scope, small enough to focus, see what works and what does not. Build examples and inspire.
We’ll do so by learning from and involving others, sharing the results, disseminate what was found out. The living lab will foster, boost and reward creativity – much discussed, hard to find. Empower people (Bricolabs, Fablab), make links, use technology to enhance the visibility of the individual and the groups she participates in. And slowly, step by step, solve real problems, strengthen the community and live our lab."
Any questions?
Column by Robert van Weperen
"Westergasfabriek as a Living Lab? That was the question at the Expert meeting @ Picnic07. Four key note speakers and more than sixty 'experts' were invited to come up with the answers. But me, one of the few non-experts, only heard extensive introductions and examples of how the concept of living labs functions in e.g. Scandinavia, Hamburg and Barcelona.Question marks filled the air at the most pleasant FlexBar. Speaking at a high abstract level seemed to be the code. Was the subject too difficult to grasp? Were the experts too afraid to show some vulnerability? Because no one even dared to propose if and how this concept could function in Amsterdam. The director of Westergasfabriek was one of the few that gave a concrete answer: 'May be we already created a Living Lab at Westergasfabriek, many years ago. Without knowing.' With these words she opened the meeting.
Unfortunately nobody used her tantalizing statement as a starting point, since Westergasfabriek is far from a Dead Lab. It is in fact 'a fertile and desirable surrounding for creativity, art and enterprise' as stated on their web site. The creative and cultural events are numerous and it is an perfect place for people that come together looking for living and lively inspiration. (In summer time the park is invaded by families that are blessed with lots and lots of children, looking for some diversion at the vast lawns and the refreshing ponds)
But structural, deliberate crowd sourcing is not the case yet. One of the participants stated that the Living Lab at Westergasfabriek should function as a bridge to the real world since new ideas shouldn't be developed in isolation and linked to society. That sounded quite ambitious, because the bridge will be as long as the bridge over the Bosporus, since the crowds we see at WG differ a lot from the people that cross Dam Square at a Tuesday morning.
Answers? No Answers. Probably Mr Harry Heyink, member of the board of Westergasfabriek, was the happiest man at the meeting that lasted for three hours. He stated: I want questions, no answers!
Hopefully the answers to all these questions will come up in a next expert meeting, since Westergasfabriek probably has the potential of a most Lively Living Lab."
This column was published in guerrilla-interviews.nl
Looking for the experience you can’t copy
Column by Roy van Dalm
"We were a really diverse group. Academics, tech savvy researchers, students, business consultants, entrepreneurs and marketing people. So what do you do when you join a round table focusing on living lab business applications? You go look for new business applications. For best solutions, for the killer ap. You tend to jump to solutions when you find out by dialogue you don’t really know what the right questions are. ‘You need an infrastructure first when it comes to living labs.” “No, no, you need investments to leverage from the early adopters to the early majority.” “No, you need a vision first of what you want to be before starting a living lab.” The drive and the expertise were there alright, but don’t go for convergence too soon. Some of us are in it because we’re technology driven. Some because we’re research-driven, or services- or socially driven. Whatever makes us tick, let’s think together first on whatever makes us connect. A living lab is a way of building communities. But is the Westergasfabriek a community, or is it a space that welcomes all sorts of temporary communities? We’re not really sure yet. But, there is only one way to find out: let’s meet more often and talk. There was so much cutting edge knowledge and creativity around the table, that we have to get back together and connect the energy again. And that governing vision can and will come from ourselves. We are the people we’ve been waiting for. It’s like a childrens birthday party. Invite the people. Tell them it’s a party and that the game is called living labs. Set a few rules and tell them when it’s finished. By strengthening the combined creativity we build a powerful basis. By seeing eye to eye we redefine actual space and create new and exciting connections in virtual space. Don’t make the mistake of going out to look for the experience you can’t copy. Be the experience you can’t copy. Then, the right questions will come and answers will flow like water from a well."
Roy van Dalm is Journalist for Het Financieele Dagblad and a
lecturer on creativity
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The Westergasfabriek exploits a space for creative and cultural enterprises. By playing an active role in the hire, use and programming of the interior spaces and exterior spaces, it allows a fertile and popular biotope for creativity, art and enterprise. In this expert meeting we think about the future of the Westergasfabriek as an (ICT) laboratory for new technology, culture and services.
At this expertmeeting, we investigated the phenomenon of Living Labs. A living lab is an innovative corporative platform aimed at creating social value. This includes: an innovation platform aimed at bringing together users, business, the scientific world and government institutions all of which play a role from their own positioning and aims within the process of future-oriented technological innovation. This involves both real applications and the evaluating of the results of innovative applications in real-life surroundings.
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