Whether you call them innovation hubs, maker-spaces, fab-labs, accelerators or hotspots you can hardly turn a street corner or a magazine page before you bump into another example. The names may vary but the underlying idea is the same – a place where people can meet to get inspired and supported by each other, to articulate and co-create.
All of these ventures are built on the belief that innovation (particularly of the radical, game-changing variety) needs somewhere to incubate and flourish, ideally well away from the busy day-to-day mainstream. Spaces where ideas can grow, be prototyped, experimented with and ultimately taken to scale.
But there’s a risk that many of these labs are being set up simply because it is the fashionable thing to do. Expectations run high but the very ease with which they can be established means that it is also simple to close them down again.
This podcast looks at some of the challenges in creating effective innovation spaces - places which are much more than a chillout space with some beanbags on the floor and whiteboards on the walls.
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