Expectations and Needs of Estonian Health Sector SMEs from Living Labs in an International Context

Living labs bring experimentation out of otherwise closed R&D departments to real-life environments with the participation of users and stakeholders. Living labs have been established in all the Baltic Sea countries. They operate in many sectors, but the way services are structured varies widely. This study is focusing on the limited options of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Baltic Sea states to test and validate their products and services both in local as well as international contexts, and resulting limited access to foreign markets. This study comprises a qualitative content analysis of interviews with SMEs to identify the internationalization potential of living labs. In particular, the authors have analyzed the needs, expectations and obstacles of SMEs in the healthcare sector in Estonia. The authors found that testing and validation activities in living labs would be beneficial mostly for SMEs ready for entering international markets. Other services offered by living labs could be of interest to SMEs considering entering new international markets but have not achieved validation

Introducing Living Lab's Method as Knowledge Transfer from one Socio-Institutional Context to another: Evidence from Helsinki-Tallinn Cross-Border Region

The present article aims to describe the Living Lab’s method as a method innovation in institutional activities and the problems of taking this innovation into use. Possibilities to transfer the Living Lab's method from one country, Finland, to other, Estonia, potential implementation fields and obstacles are studied. Considerations on the process of utilising the Living Lab's method in Tallinn are given. Living Lab's is a human-centric research and development approach in which new technologies are co-created, tested, and evaluated in the users’ own private context. This method is coming into use in several countries among which Finland is in the forefront but is not yet in use in Tallinn, Estonia. The empirical part of the research is based on the analyses of fourteen interviews conducted among Tallinn and Helsinki city officials, representatives of technology enterprises, experts of the fields that are internationally most wide-spread Living Labs' testing grounds, using structured interviews and discussions. The article concludes by discussing possibilities to use the Living Lab's method in enhancing Helsinki-Tallinn cross-border co-operation and thus metropolitan regional integration

Introducing Living Lab's Method as Knowledge Transfer from one Socio-Institutional Context to another: Evidence from Helsinki-Tallinn Cross-Border Region

The present article aims to describe the Living Lab’s method as a method innovation in institutional activities and the problems of taking this innovation into use. Possibilities to transfer the Living Lab's method from one country, Finland, to other, Estonia, potential implementation fields and obstacles are studied. Considerations on the process of utilising the Living Lab's method in Tallinn are given. Living Lab's is a human-centric research and development approach in which new technologies are co-created, tested, and evaluated in the users’ own private context. This method is coming into use in several countries among which Finland is in the forefront but is not yet in use in Tallinn, Estonia. The empirical part of the research is based on the analyses of fourteen interviews conducted among Tallinn and Helsinki city officials, representatives of technology enterprises, experts of the fields that are internationally most wide-spread Living Labs' testing grounds, using structured interviews and discussions. The article concludes by discussing possibilities to use the Living Lab's method in enhancing Helsinki-Tallinn cross-border co-operation and thus metropolitan regional integration