Living Labs as Tools for Open Innovation

This paper presents a Living Lab in Stockholm as a focal point for discussing how the Living Lab concept can be extended and used for engaging in multiorganizational open innovation. Although Living Labs have been found to have potential for driving innovation through collaboration, more research is necessary to find tangible ways of organizing this kind of collaboration. The paper is explorative and empirically induced from an ongoing development and practical implementation of a Living Lab at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport - Sweden's largest airport situated outside Stockholm. This Airport Living Lab involves a number of large industrial and academic stakeholders aiming at ensuring multi-organizational innovation delivery. Of special interest is how the Living Lab concept should evolve to continue creating conditions for user-oriented innovations through multi-organizational collaboration which would not necessarily take place otherwise. Congruent with the explorative aim of the paper it ends up in a discussion about five propositions that should be on the agenda of research and implementation for Living Lab founders in the coming years.Living Labs, Open innovation, Electronic Collaboration Tools

Living Lab: A Methodology between User-Centred Design and Participatory Design

Living Labs have received limited attention in the literature despite their diffusion throughout Europe and recent interest from policy makers. This limited attention is linked to the newness of the phenomenon, the high heterogeneity of cases and the consequent lack of definitions and acknowledged frameworks for scholarly analyses. In this work, we argue that the originality of the Living Lab phenomenon resides in the introduction of a new methodology. Using an analysis of the literature and case studies, we propose a new definition, position this methodology among other design methodologies and highlight its peculiarities. We underline the co-creative potentialities, the awareness of users and the real-life settings. Furthermore, our case-based research allows us to identify four different specifications for this methodology, and therefore four different types of Living Labs, based on the openness of the user involvement and the adopted platform technology

Right to Language : A Study of How Public Libraries Work with Children's Books Acquisitions in OtherLanguages Than Swedish

The purpose of this essay is to examine how public libraries work with children's books, in other languages thanSwedish, regarding acquisitions. The purpose is also to describe what the libraries assignments are in regard tochildren with non-Swedish backgrounds. This is then put in a relation to the libraries democratic assignment.The main questions are: What are the libraries' assignments, as described in the libraries regulations? How do thelibraries work to fulfil their assignments? To answer these questions a survey in two parts has been carried out. The first is a study of the libraries'regulations, and various handbooks that serve as an inspiration for librarians. The other is a qualitative interviewsurvey which took place at three libraries in Uppsala and one in Märsta. The survey of the documents shows that the libraries are expected to give special attention to the needs ofchildren with non-Swedish backgrounds. Among other things, this means keeping a varied book stock of goodquality, on all the different languages represented in the area. In Sweden, the leading supplier of media servicesserving libraries, are BTJ. The libraries in the survey turn to BTJ's selection when acquiring books. The librarians however find BTJ's selection of books limited and non-satisfactory when it comes to children's booksin other languages than Swedish. On account of this, the librarians are forced to turn to alternative solutions. The alternative channels for acquisitions they mention are the children's bookshop Bokspindeln in Stockholm,retailers who visit the libraries, and acquisitions during their own travels abroad. The International Library in Stockholm is a valuable resource, in administering book deposits to the local libraries and aiding them withadvice regarding acqusitions. The essay's theoretical frames are built upon three main concepts: identity, ethnicity and language. The theories discussed, suggest that a person's language and ethnicity is of great importance when it comes to theperson's process of forming an identity. The identity is continuously constructed in the interaction and dialoguewith others. The libraries can play an important role for this process, as a source of language and culture. Furthermore, the survey notices the libraries' role as a democratic force in society. The libraries areexpected to act in order to maintain the human rights. The libraries can serve as an open room for democraticdiscussions. The libraries should offer everyone free and unlimited access to knowledge, thoughts, culture andinformation. They can also contribute to increasing the status of minority languages and stress the value ofmultilingualism. The libraries are also seen as a place where cultural exchange is possible, which is meant tohelp create a base for greater understanding and openness towards different cultures in the minds of the people. The main conclusion in this essay regards whether the libraries can or cannot do enough to fulfill theirassignments. The main source for acquisitions mentioned, BTJ, being the leading supplier of media services tolibraries, does not seem to have enough resources to serve the libraries in a satisfying way, when it comes tochildren's books on other languages than Swedish. Whether the libraries can meet the special needs ofmultilingual children, is therefore a question of the librarians own resourcefulness and networking