%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2016 %T The Impact of Living Lab Methodology on Open Innovation Contributions and Outcomes %A Dimitri Schuurman %A Lieven De Marez %A Pieter Ballon %K collaboration %K distributed innovation %K entrepreneur %K Innovation management %K living labs %K Open innovation %K SME %K startup %K user innovation %K user involvement %X Open innovation scholars as well as practitioners are still struggling with the practical implementation of open innovation principles in different contexts. In this article, we explore the value of a living lab approach for open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using a case study approach, we compared 27 SME projects conducted by iMinds Living Labs from 2011 to 2015. The results suggest that a real-life intervention and a multi-method approach – both of which are methodological characteristics of living lab projects – increase the chance of generating actionable user contributions for the innovation under development. Moreover, the results also suggest that a living lab project yields maximal value when evolving from concept towards prototype. Besides these exploratory findings, this article also demonstrates that living lab projects are a perfect "playground" to test and validate assumptions from the open innovation literature. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 6 %P 7-16 %8 01/2016 %G eng %U http://timreview.ca/article/956 %N 1 %1 iMinds and Ghent University Dimitri Schuurman holds a PhD (2015) and Master's degree in Communication Sciences (2003) from Ghent University in Belgium. He joined the research group iMinds – MICT – Ghent University in Belgium in 2005 and started working at iMinds Living Labs in 2009. Together with his iMinds colleagues, Dimitri developed a specific living lab offering targeted at startups and SMEs, in which he has managed over 50 innovation projects. As a senior researcher, Dimitri is currently responsible for the methodology and academic valorization of living lab projects. He also coordinates a dynamic team of living lab researchers from iMinds – MICT – Ghent University. His main interests and research topics are situated in the domains of open innovation, user innovation, and innovation management. In early 2015, he finished his PhD entitled Bridging the Gap between Open and User Innovation? Exploring the Value of Living Labs as a Means to Structure User Contribution and Manage Distributed Innovation. %2 iMinds and Ghent University Lieven De Marez is Head of the research group for Media & ICT (MICT) and Manager of iMinds Living Labs media activities at Ghent University in Belgium. He has obtained a Master in Communication Sciences (1999) and Marketing (2000) and wrote a PhD titled Diffusion of ICT Innovations: More Accurate User Insight for Better Introduction Strategies. His main expertise is in the development of "segmentation forecast" tools for prior-to-launch adoption potential forecasts for new media and ICT innovations. He continuously seeks to explore new methodologies and understand emerging media use patterns and the impact of new media and ICT and making media innovation more user-centric. At the department of Communication Studies, he founded and coordinates the Master's program on New Media & Society. %3 European Network of Living Labs Pieter Ballon is the International Secretary of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). He specializes in business modelling, open innovation, and the mobile telecommunications industry. Formerly, he was Senior Consultant and Team Leader at TNO. From 2006 to 2007, he was the coordinator of the cross issue on business models of the Wireless World Initiative (WWI) that united five integrated projects in the EU 6th Framework Programme. He holds a PhD in Communication Sciences and an MA in Modern History. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/956 %0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2013 %T Open Innovation Processes in Living Lab Innovation Systems: Insights from the LeYLab %A Dimitri Schuurman %A Lieven De Marez %A Pieter Ballon %K knowledge exchange %K living labs %K Open innovation %K open innovation networks %K user innovation %X Living labs have emerged on the crossroads of the open innovation and user innovation frameworks. As open innovation systems, living labs consist of various actors with each playing their specific role. Within this article, we will take an open innovation perspective by analyzing the knowledge spill-overs between living lab actors through three in-depth innovation case studies taking place within the LeYLab living lab in Kortrijk, Belgium. The results illustrate how living labs foster the three open innovation processes of exploration, exploitation, and retention. From our analysis, we conclude that living labs are particularly useful for exploration and, to a lesser extent, exploitation. In terms of retention, living labs seem to hold a large potential; however, the success and the nature of the innovation processes depend on the sustainability of living labs, the number of innovation cases, and the alignment of these cases with the living lab infrastructure. Based on these findings, a concrete set of guidelines is proposed for innovating in living labs and for setting up a living lab constellation. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 3 %P 28-36 %8 11/2013 %G eng %U http://timreview.ca/article/743 %N 11 %1 iMinds Dimitri Schuurman is a Senior Researcher at the iMinds Media & ICT (MICT) research group and is responsible for the methodology of living lab projects facilitated by iMinds iLab.o. His involvement in living labs started in 2010 with the Mediatuin and LeYLab living labs. To date, he has managed over 30 concrete living lab projects that deal with new media and innovative use of ICT. He is currently finishing his PhD on living labs at Ghent University in Belgium. %2 iMinds Lieven De Marez is Research Director of the iMinds Media & ICT (MICT) research group and teaches on the topics of innovation research and new communication technologies in the Department of Communication Sciences at Ghent University in Belgium. MICT is one of 16 research groups within iMinds, and Lieven is also part of the management team of iLab.o, iMinds’ facilitating infrastructure for living lab research. %3 iMinds Pieter Ballon is Director Living Labs at iMinds and Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. He also heads iMinds’ Market Innovation & Sector Transition research team, specializing in new business models for the telecommunications and media industries. He leads various national and international projects on open innovation platforms, real-life ICT experiments, and business models for media and ICT services. Since 2009, Pieter is the International Secretary of the European Network of Living Labs. From 2006 to 2007, he coordinated the joint research on business models for future mobile IP-based systems of the Wireless World Initiative (WWI) in the EU 6th Framework Programme. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/743 %0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2012 %T Structuring User Involvement in Panel-Based Living Labs %A Dimitri Schuurman %A Lieven De Marez %K customer characteristics %K living labs %K Open innovation %K user panels %K user-driven innovation %X A shift towards open innovation approaches with systematic user involvement has occurred within media and ICT. One of the emerging frameworks structuring these initiatives is the "living lab" approach. Despite the growing evidence of the beneficial nature of customer involvement in product development, research into specific user characteristics for innovation is still scarce, particularly in living labs, with the notable exception of literature on lead users. Especially within the context of living labs for ICT and media innovation, an application of the lead-user framework looks promising as a way to structure and facilitate user involvement. This article is based on the experiences of three Flemish living lab initiatives with a panel-based approach and provides a customer characteristics framework that guides user involvement in living labs. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 2 %P 31-38 %8 09/2012 %U http://timreview.ca/article/606 %N 9 %1 Ghent University Dimitri Schuurman is a PhD Candidate at Ghent University, where he started working for the MICT (Media & ICT) research group at in November 2005 and received a position as a principal living lab researcher for IBBT-iLab.o in the Mediatuin and LeYLab living labs in 2010. Dimitri's research mainly involves methods for ICT innovation. He focuses on the ways the user can be involved within various innovation methods and techniques (lead user methodology, Living Labs, panel studies), and especially which users to use at what stage within the innovation process, rather than simply involving "the user". Furthermore, he devotes special attention to the specific role of media content within the process of adoption and diffusion of ICTs. %2 Ghent University Lieven De Marez is Research Director at MICT and teaches innovation research and new communication technologies at the department of Communication Sciences in Ghent University. Previously, he worked as a research assistant on methodology and statistics at the Department of Communication Sciences of Ghent University after obtaining his Master’s degree in Communication Sciences (1999) and Marketing (2000). Through his subsequent PhD research, he developed a segmentation-forecasting tool for prior-to-launch prediction of adoption potential and created a blueprint for better introduction strategies for ICT innovations in today’s volatile market environment. Within the interdisciplinary institute for BroadBand Technology (IBBT), of which MICT is one of the 16 research groups, Lieven is also part of the management team of iLab.o, IBBT’s facilitating infrastructure for Living Lab research. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/606