Helsinki Seminar Showcases New Dimensions of Living Labs

The third Living Labs Innovations seminar was held in Helsinki on November 3rd, 2009. The presentations highlighted recent developments in the concept and its implementations. Finland, and especially the Helsinki metropolitan area, is currently in the leading role in the Living Lab development in the world. Helsinki Living Lab, a network of Living Labs in the area, organized the first annual Living Lab Innovations seminar in 2007 to present success stories from the area. The third seminar presented to the audience new cases and information on open public data allowing the development of new types of services for citizens. Living Labs are user-driven open innovation systems, where product and service development takes place in real-life test environments. Living Labs take Research & Development & Innovation to a new level, providing development platforms where products and services can be tested with real everyday users, in an “eco-system.” The key players in Living Lab eco-systems are users, who test new products and services in everyday situations, to ensure that the products and services are acceptable by users. Other key players are developers of the products and services, utilizers (that is, customers), and enablers of the development. Helsinki Living Lab is a communications hub that enables enterprises and public sector organizations to get in touch and co-operate with the different Living Labs in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Living Lab Innovations case studies OP-Pohjola, a leading financial services group in Finland, has partnered with the Helsinki City Library to test Web bank services at the library’s Meetingpoint. They first tested an online meeting concept with library goers. They have also used the Meetingpoint to test electronic invoicing and a release prior to launching. “OP-Pohjola’s Web bank development with public testing was an opportunity and challenge at the same time,” according to Vice President Kai Koskela. RFID Lab Finland is an association that seeks to grow business knowhow on RFID technology (radio frequency identification) for its 45 member companies. RFID Lab Finland has tested the technology in Helsinki metropolitan area libraries with living lab methods, to replace barcode technology with RFID. Benefits would include increased self-service, faster inventory and searches, and improved logistics in libraries of the future. “Stadi.TV” is a citizen-driven city public-access TV project in Helsinki with multiple channels including cable television and the Internet. Stadi.TV tests new ways of media production with city residents. The project utilizes the living lab concept in seeking to attract new target audiences and new user groups. Open public data A wealth of public information exists in the Helsinki Region, available from good basic registers. “Helsinki Region Infoshare” is a new project allowing citizens to connect to this freely available information. The project will open vast new opportunities to process data and obtain new information on a variety of themes and topics. The project combines multiple forces in the region. It will be implemented phase by phase by 2012. Open public data moves us from an “industrially organized information age to a network-organized information age”, according to Petri Kola, a researcher at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. Open public data allows collaboration between people and challenges hierarchical organizations. “Apps for Democracy” is a project where open public data is applied to develop new products and services that increase democracy. One such online service development in Finland is Tax Tree, which allows citizens to find out how their tax money is spent. City services utilizing citizen participation The City of Helsinki utilizes citizen consultation and social media to improve its services to citizens. Helsinki wants to be a bicycle-friendly city and promotes bicycling in various ways, including fillarikanava.hel.fi (“bicycle channel”) to make Helsinki a better place to cycle. This is a channel for cyclists produced by the City of Helsinki Public Works and the City of Helsinki Planning Department. The site forms a discussion platform, and cyclists can post comments on cycling in Helsinki, thus all helping to improve cycling in the city.