Open Innovation Ecosystems in Africa: The Inspiring Story of Living Labs Senegal
Approach
To what extent is a regional project such as Col·laboratori Catalunya replicable internationally? How can we apply our expertise in digital social innovation and living labs in a geographically and culturally different environment? What learnings are obtained through these collaborative processes?
In 2019, the Col·laboratori Catalunya project is launched by the Generalitat de Catalunya government together with i2CAT Foundation together with the aim of involving the Quadruple Helix (4-H) (academia, industry, government and civil society) in the co-design and co-creation of solutions and/or improvements to challenges that arise in the different regions of Catalonia. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was detected that one of the most relevant issues was “health and well-being”, and a thematic col·laboratory was then created to address these issues in a cross-cutting manner regardless of the location in the Catalan territory. In January 2023 and thanks to a Horizon project, the INTEGER European Col·laboratory was created as a participative project between different actors of the 4-H of Hamburg (Germany), Krakow (Poland) and Catalonia (Spain), to address challenges in the field of health and well-being also at intra and interregional level.
In July 2023 and with this knowledge and previous experiences, i2CAT together with the FDSUT (Fonds de Développement du Service Universel des Télécommunications) created Living Labs Senegal with the aim of contributing at a global level, so that i2CAT supports the FDSUT in each stage of the creation of 4 Living Labs (LL) in different regions of the country. Of these, 2 are already physically created and the remaining 2 will be created in the next 6 months. In this project, i2CAT shares its experience as a research and innovation centre in LL, being a process of collaboration and mutual learning. Moreover, different trainings regarding LL have been carried out both on-site and online to implement them, and currently, all the actors involved in the project are working on the definition of research and innovation projects.
This support allows the participation of Catalan NGOs and other organisations supported by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) to contribute to the promotion of activities in defence of democratic and women’s rights. In addition, this process fosters collaboration between Senegalese and Catalan universities and research centres to strengthen the FDSUT’s LL programmes, to develop new models of cooperation in the digital era, based on open innovation ecosystems, respectful of cultural diversity.
Questions and comments to the author/s
Muy interesante experiencia Marta.
Me gustaría hacerte dos preguntas. La primera en relación con la universalidad de esa fórmula de la cuádruple hélice. ¿Qué prospecciones se han hecho para evaluar hasta qué punto una fórmula tan particular y tan condicionada con las circunstancias sociales y culturales puede ser "exportable" o puede tener vigencia en otros territorios?
La segunda es sobre la conexión con el muy rico y vibrante ecosistema de innovación digital e incluso tecnopolítico senegalés. ¿Cómo se han establecido las conexiones con ese espacio? ¿Se ha reservado ese contacto a FDSUT?
Muchas gracias por tus explicaciones y por las respuestas.
Un saludo,
Thank you very much for your presentation of this very interesting project. You mention that the implementation of your initiative in Senegal was accompanied by a re-development of the methodology of Living Labs based on intercultural approach. I would like to ask if you could give some examples of such intercultural strategies that have been applied in the course of the implementation. Another issue that I find very interesting is connected with the Senegalese diaspora in Cataluña. Has it played any role in the development of the project?
