Living Labs, collaborative innovation and ecosystems: The case of the “Concept Maturity Levels” initiative in the medtech

Living Labs (LLs) are new forms of laboratories which implement collaborative and experimental user-centred approaches. Recently, the capabilities of LLs to develop open and collaborative innovation networks have been highlighted. But research is still limited, even though the phenomenon is constantly evolving in practice. Based on the longitudinal analysis of an ongoing initiative, the “Concept Maturity Levels Santé”, promoted by the French Forum of Living Labs in Health and Autonomy, this article presents a phenomenon-based research aimed at exploring and characterizing how LLs can contribute, beyond temporary innovation projects, to structuring open and collaborative innovation ecosystems over the long term. In addition to contributing to the literature on LLs, the article opens up new avenues for the characterization of the hitherto little-studied innovation ecosystems following community-based models.
JEL Code: M100