4. Towards a cross border thematic network

When we envision a thematic domain network, it is clear that we cannot limit this only to the scope of Homecare and Independent Living. Not only are the Living Labs tackling more elements of Health, we do see that the challenges (as eg identified in different European and national strategies) are much broader then this. Therefor it is required to extent the scope of the network to the broader domain of Health and Well-being. This will enable a more holistic approach and allows to set different foci based upon the needs (see further)

The Health and Well-Being thematic domain network has to be an open structure where organizations and individuals that are active or have an interest in this domain can be part of. However, a distinction will have to be made between those organization, in casu Living Labs that have a key-competence and activity in this and those that are working in the domain on a more sporadic base.

Depending on the maturity of the Living Lab with regard to their activities in the domain we do believe it is beneficiary to have a core group of senior Living Labs. This group will have to take a lead position in the network. They will interact closer with each other on different topics and activities related to the domain of Health and Well-being. It is important that they, due to their expertise, can act as a reference group to the other members of the Living Lab. Beside this, it will be mainly this group that can not only share their knowledge and expertise to assist the other Living Labs in improving their Living Lab activities and set-up in the domain, but also to guide companies and public organizations to the network. It is mainly this expertise that is one of the key-assets of the network towards external organizations and companies. It will be important that a set of senior Living Labs will also act as the steering group of the domain network. They will be responsible for determining the operations of the network, both on an content as a more operational level. Eg. they will be responsible for drafting the work program and defining the topics to be addressed based on the challenges they encounter (from the field or on a more strategic level).

As the network organization needs to a be as flat as possible on the hand and to be as active as possible on the other hand it is important that the members of the steering group (that do play a crucial role) can change according the needs. Therefore it would be good to work with a rotating mechanism, meaning that each year the composition can change. Preferable, the chairperson of this steering group is the responsible within ENoLL for the domain of Health, as elected by the council members.

Figure 14. Organizational model thematic domain network on Health and Well-being

4.1 Focus of the domain specific network

The health domain, understood in its broadest terms, is one of the most significant economic and social fields of activity in developed nations. A broad and inclusive approach to the concept of Health, and well-being offers more opportunities for creative ideas and synergies with related fields.

Due to the growing aging population and the rapid increase of health care costs, different types of innovations, including systemic, social and managerial innovations are fundamental and urgent for the aging European society. That is to say, innovations related to the health and social sector are urgent, however they are not sufficient, and hence, we need broader systemic innovations, penetrating various societal and knowledge sectors. There resides a need for new type of systemic and managerial innovations, based on crowdsourcing and open innovation. The main goal is to collectively achieve rapid solutions to given questions and challenges, e.g. the promotion of wellbeing, social networks models and community care, democracy and financial system in collaboration among citizens, administration and private sector.

Active Ageing, Integrated Care and Independent Living are seen as one of the key elements in addressing these challenges. A core element in these concepts is the need to support people to live as long and as healthy as possible independently at home or in their preferred environment, assisted by technology, innovative services and processes and new business models. The focus should be on solutions that are not perceived as stigmatizing through co-creation methodologies with future users. Living Labs in health & wellbeing can make the difference as they stimulate userdriven innovations and open-innovation collaboration in order to empower the elderly and to enable independent living. This will be a strategic principle within the

overall thematic domain of Health and Well-being. Therefore the thematic network of Living Labs in the domain of Health & Well-being will initially focus on the elements that are related to the domains of (e)homecare, ambient assisted living and telehealth..

The scope of the network of Living Labs in this domain is dual. On the one hand the network wants to assemble all those Living Labs that have done projects and have an active interest in the domain. Within this larger group of Living Labs a more coregroup of Living Labs will operate. This group will act as a reference group that will interact more closely with each other. It is within this interaction that they will exchange lessons learned and experiences not only to each other, but also to larger community of Living Labs that are member of this thematic network. This core group is necessary to create a solid base, knowledge pool and trustworthy network of Living Labs that have the expertise and ability to set-up cross-border projects and to assist SMEs and large companies in large scale pilots. Important in this selection is the use of a common eco-system approach (see further). This core group will also set the benchmark for the other living labs. In the end the objective is that due to these core groups and their experience the other Living labs can evolve to a more mature, focused and specialized living lab in the domain.

4.2 Role of the health thematic network

When we look at the challenges we encountered in the cross-border pilots of APOLLON as well as to the specific topics raised in the survey, we do see that the role of the network has various functions.

4.2.2 Addressing the challenges The network has to be able to address the following challenges related to the domain of health, by providing the members and users of the network the necessary insights and knowledge on these challenges on the hand and a way of tackle them during cross-border collaboration: • Difference in the eco-system: the Health context is organised very differently in each region / country. This implies that the Living labs are confronted with other type of partners, stakeholders, business models… The establishment of similar set-ups in each living labs is therefore not feasible. However, the network has to offer not only insights in how the local Health and Well-Being is organised, but also a gateway to get access to the different stakeholders that are necessary to set-up collaborative living lab projects. In addition, as health is often (semi-public organised it is different for a new actor (SME) to enter the specific market (based on the public, subsidized model). New ways of enabling experiments, outside a complete commercial oriented (B-2-C) business model are also needed. • Different rules and regulation: the domain of health is subject to a very complex set of rules and regulations. This does not only differ from country

to country but even within countries. Therefore performing projects in this domain does not only require a thorough insight in these aspects but also implies that often specific procedures need to be followed. This offers also a bottleneck in the feasibility for cross-border pilots. Setting up mirror projects or simply transferring one set-up from one context to the other is only possible if it is assessed and adjusted to these local rules. Access to a vulnerable target group: When performing projects in the domain of Health or Well-Being one is confronted with vulnerable target groups such as elderly, sick and or disabled people. These groups can not be accessed in the same way that the majority of test-users or participants are reached and involved. Also often this group is difficult to be reached as they protect themselves from society. To access these vulnerable groups you need to have a.o. specific methods, dedicated ‘entry-points’,…. These are often trusted parties. The living labs operating in a network and setting up crossborder projects will have to provide these type of ‘entry-points’. Local ‘visibility’ / presence: Trust is a crucial element in the set-up of projects in Health and Well-being. Therefore trusted parties are a key element (see also above). To facilitate this trust local presence is a necessity. This means that the Living Labs have to act as a trusted party towards the different actors in the eco-system. Those partners can act as a gateway to the endusers Benchmarking: Finally, projects in Health and Well-Being also are confronted with a specific challenge regarding benchmarking. Measuring the value and impact within Health and Well-Being are also not always on a pure economical level. The societal impact is mostly as equal important. To prove whether a system has impact it is not sufficient to perform eg. an evaluation questionnaire. To grasp the real value of an experiment it is not only crucial to have access to a good benchmark, but also to create the correct research environment and offer the right instruments.

4.2.3 Providing access and stimulating collaboration

The objectives of a community of Living Labs operating in a network within the domain of Health and Homecare are in general threefold. First it has to be an environment in which the various partners can share lessons learned, experiences… Second, referring to this core circle, it also has to be an active community that helps the Living lab members with useful methods and tools. Finally the community should also be ‘collaborative’ meaning that between the different stakeholders there is

interaction in terms of collaboration by setting up joined projects etc… We will elaborate more on these levels.

4.2.3.1 Access to information • As mentioned before –the network of Living Labs in Health would consist of two layers: a core layer and a larger community. In the first place it is the objective to establish the exchange of knowledge and experiences with regard to Living Labs in the Health and Well-being domain both within and between these layers and Living Labs. Here a specific focus will have to be on operational issues encountered during Living Lab projects and how they were handled successfully.

The network also has to network with Living Labs active in other domains. The chairman of the network will have to play an active role in facilitating this.

Within this knowledge sharing, there has to be a specific focus on identifying proven methods to get Living Labs involved in collaboration with health, wellbeing service providers. This has not only to be facilitated in an electronic way (knowledge-center, newsletters…) but also has to be the scope of the workshops and specific events.

Beyond the own community, the network also has to act as an ambassador of the Living Lab movement. They will have to promote the Living Labs as a useful and attractive tool for innovation and service development for Health & Well-Being related projects and initiatives.

4.2.3.2 Pro-active network • First, the network of Living Labs, need to address specific needs of the community with regard to user driven innovation in the domain. These issues (eg. in-house access at vulnerable groups) are than subject of the various activities of the Living Lab (workshops, taskforces…). For this a programme has to be drafted by the steering group in which the focus of the network is decided. This programme has a timeline for one year and will frame the scope for tackling specific identified needs. • Subsequently, based on this need-identification, the network of Living Labs will have to create different taskforces that focuses on the development of specific Living Lab tools, methods and techniques specifically targeting the

challenges of the domain of Health and Well-Being. For example on capturing user feedback from elderly people. Thirdly, an important objective for the network is to collaborate & connect with the various stakeholders in the domain. The Health and Well-being domain is in that sense a very specific domain as this is in essence a very closed community, with a very specific eco-system. Therefore the network has to provide the access –both in the different regions and sectors –for the members of the Living Lab network to the local eco-systems.

4.2.3.3 Stimulating collaboration • The network of Living Labs in Health has to stimulate and facilitate collaboration between the members on the one hand and with additional partners (outside the network) on the other hand. The members will have to work together to join forces and by so offer a large platform that can leverage innovation projects and by so addressing some of the main challenges in the domain. This will not only imply that there will be an active cross-border and inter-Living Lab collaboration, but that the members of the network also will set up joined projects. These projects can range from dataexchange for bottom-up innovation to real Living Lab projects over different regions. • To stimulate and foster this the network has to enable an easy access to the various Health eco-systems all over Europe. By so, stakeholders, public and private partners, are able to set-up large-scale, comparative cross-border projects. • In addition, it is also necessary that the Living labs are able to identify local needs (by users, stakeholders…) and use this to generate new collaborations and projects from a bottom up perspective. Therefore the network, as a prolongation of the network acts as a matchmaker between SMEs, health services and public organizations, across borders. Often one is in search of a solution of a certain need. It is the task of the network to guide these actors –by pointing them to results of previous partners, bringing them in contact with service providers…

4.3 Services the network needs to offer

Based on the results of pilots executed in the APOLLON project, it is clear that it is not feasible nor possible to establish a, fixed common eco-system installed in every Living Lab in which there are fixed partnerships with local actors and stakeholders. But we have identified the need towards a good system in which the Living Labs

could rapidly map the most efficient eco-system based on the project requirements. This would be one of the main services of the network of Living Labs. Due this ecosystem mapping the Living lab will be able to identify the required roles and responsibilities needed in the project and connect to the most appropriate actor.

Another key-service that the network of Living Labs needs to offer is a way of exchanging the needs and demands of the various local stakeholders with the other members and by so try to do some matchmaking.

The domain network service offered by the network and its members can be identified on two levels: towards living labs and towards SMEs, public organizations…

4.3.2 Towards Living Labs

As already mentioned in the scope and objectives the network of Living Lab should acts as a vivid, active and collaborative network both towards its members as to the Living Lab community as a whole. For achieving this, the network will focus on some of the following key-services:

Sharing tools and methods: This will be done by various means. First of all the network will actively use the knowledge centre as developed within APOLLON. The objective is that this will grow as the reference site for the Living Labs. Second, the tools and methods will also be subject of specific workshops that the network will organize. Exchange information and best practices: Between the members of the Living lab as well as towards the stakeholders, the network will focus on very specific elements that are crucial in the set-up of a (cross-border) Living lab project in health and well-being. It will therefore tackle specific issues such as: ethical issues, privacy matters, the involvement of vulnerable groups, and the interaction with elderly people. This will be done by the creation of specific taskforces that concentrate on these topics. Second, it will also disseminate results of the different projects in which the members are involved. Not only will we focus on the data outcome itself but also on the process, set-up… This will be done through newsletters that will be spread around on a frequent base. This data will also be inserted into the knowledge centre (see above). Involvement of vulnerable groups: Especially with the vulnerable groups it is required to have a partner involved that the users know and trust. The network, through its Living labs member will be able to provide the most suitable actor that can act as the single point of contact (SPOC) or liaison officer that can set-up the relationship with users. This can be the local Living Lab or another specific actor identified through the eco-system mapping. Not only that direct link, but also how to engage them in the activities, will be a key element for the network (see above).

Tracking & monitoring: In the cross-border Living Labs it is a basic condition that all activities are being tracked and monitored. This has to be done on different levels. First of all on the specific project level it is required to retrieve statistics on the use or experience of a certain services. In order to be comparable between set-ups the data has to be interoperable and comparable. This is not only necessary to compare results, but also when services are being transferred. The network of Living Labs will provide tools and methods to support and safeguard this. Second, it is also important that the Living Labs keep track on what is happening with regard to various aspects of health (on a general level but also on specific domains such as regulation). A kind of basic monitoring of regional data is an important element in identifying needs and by so defining new bottom-up projects. This type of monitoring will also be an activity coordinated by the network. Objective is to have a general topic list or questionnaire that will be used by each of the members. By so we will have specific regional data. This will generate opportunities to define new cross-border projects. Working towards an eco-system approach: During the cross-border pilots of APOLLON it was clear that within Health the eco-system is a crucial element. It is known that the health system is structured in various different ways within Europe. However, we discovered that each region is organized and structured more differently than expected. In order to set-up cross-border projects the participation of the stakeholders of this eco-system is crucial. Therefore it is necessary to have a good method and process in place that allows the network and the Living Labs to identify rapidly the necessary actors and to engage them actively. The objective is that based on the results of the APOLLON, such approach is being embedded in all of the Living Labs that are within the core-group. Having this standardized approach will give the network the unique position towards SMEs. They will be able to do a scan of the necessary actors, how they are related to each other as well as their interest. This eco-system approach will be one of the key elements within the network and will not only be distributed amongst the members, but will also be annually revised by one of the taskforces. This approach will also act as a guideline for those Living Labs that are not in the core-group or have less or no experience in Health Living Labs.

4.3.3 Towards SMEs

The services towards SMEs are on the one hand being facilitated through the services offered by the network towards its members. On the other hand, in addition to those, the network will also focus on some specific services addressing the needs

of the industry or government. There will be a special focus on the needs of SMEs, which are partly different. • Analysis of the feasibility / requirement: Especially in health it is extremely important to have a good working set-up, with almost no technical issues, as they are often being used in critical situations. Therefore it is not only necessary to do a good requirement analysis, but also a pre-check of the service. The network of Living Labs will offer this requirement analysis (based on the templates developed within APOLLON) in which they will not only look at the technological requirements in detail, but also to social and contextual requirements. This will be done on the level of all the involved partners. By so the impact on the level of the service, set-up… can be assessed much more. This will allow the SME to estimate the feasibility and cost of the project. On the other hand, once this analysis is done and the set-up is being adjusted accordingly, it is still very important to do a pre-test in a real life setting prior to the roll-out to test users. The network of Living Lab will be able to support the SMEs in such pre-test set-up through its members. This pre-check is a crucial milestone in the further process of the project. • Support to facilitate creation of cross-border collaboration and new pilots: One of the main services of the domain network of Living Labs is facilitating and guiding SMEs in the cross-border set-up and collaboration. This will be done both actively and passively. Actively the network itself will try to, based on the bottom-up user-centred design approach, create opportunities for cross-border projects in which they will involve SMEs, public organisations… On the ‘passive’ level –the network will assist SMEs that contact the domain network (either directly or via its members) for a specific project or pilot. For the latter, the role of the network is twofold: identifying proper partners with whom a pilot can be set-up and executed and the set-up of the collaboration with other Living Labs itself. • Suitable methodology to address potential new pilots and cross-border collaboration: The domain network will offer guidance and consultancy towards the SMEs with regard to domain specific issues (as already mentioned above). Especially in relation to the process of a cross-border pilot as well as on how to capture feedback of users in this context, will be one of the key elements. • Identification of success cases and stories to support new pilot establishment: The domain network, with its international dimension, will also organize various workshops and will be present in different events and conferences in the domain. During these events, it will provide a platform for the SMEs to showcase and or demonstrate successful projects. In addition, during the cross-border pilots in which the domain or one of its members is

involved, local showcases will be organised. This is not only for promoting the project results, but also to act as a matchmaking event between SMEs themselves as well as towards the other Living Labs and their projects.

4.4 How to organize the network

Creating an overview with available resources in the domain network of health and well-being is extremely difficult. Not only are the different Living Labs often project based organized and by so the used technologies… from a temporary nature, but also there is a permanent evolution in the domain. Also the setting and involved ecosystem is mostly too project specific. This implies that these settings and collaborations are not often ‘re-usable’ for other type of projects. Due to this and the changing nature of the projects and sector, we do think it is more useful to list the various expertise’s of the members of the Living Lab. The knowledge center will be the primary channel through which members can describe their expertise and track record. The domain network will use a template covering all the different elements of information that Living Labs have to provide. During the workshops and showcases the Living Labs will also have the opportunity to illustrate their assets. It will be the responsible of the domain network to assure that every member is up-todate with the latest status of each of the Living Labs active in the field. The newsletter will be one of the main instruments to do so.

The domain network of Living Labs on health and well-being will consist primarily of Living Labs that are member of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). Being a member is one of the prerequisite to be part of the core-group. In addition a supporting group will be established. This will be in line with the ENoLL policy on that level. As the domain network of Living Labs will operate from within the European network of Living Labs, the membership of this network is free of charge for ENoLL members.

For what concerns the various activities –the different members of the core-group will primarily have to do this. They will be responsible for organizing the workshops, establishing the taskforces… This has to be considered as an investment of the Living Labs that are active in this network. Not only will they help themselves and the other Living Labs, but it will create opportunities for new projects. In other words, Living Labs that want to be member of this network will actively have to contribute.

For the events and workshops, this will be done under the umbrella of ENoLL. These events will be organized on a self-sustainable basis: either through specific project contributions or through access fees. The latter will be kept to a strict minimum and at a very low fee. In order to be able to do so the domain network will try to cooperate and team up with existing domain specific organizations and events.

For what concerns the specific services towards SMEs (such as matchmaking, ecosystem analysis…), here the model is dual. Either it is part of the standard assessment trajectory of a Living Lab (eg. finding partners in setting up new

collaborative projects) or it is a very specific assignment performed by the Living Lab. For the latter a cost can be claimed to the SME. If necessary, the search for (additional) funding can be part of this exercise. Preferably this is a public-private partnership where it is a collaborative exercise in which the SME also take an active part.

For project acquisition, service delivery… it will always be the participating Living Labs that will jointly discuss how costs and revenues are being handled. The basic principle is that the network will work towards cross-border activities in which both local and remotely Living Labs are active. This is crucial in the referring task each member has