How Living Labs are reshaping the future of academic entrepreneurship in Canada

As geopolitical tensions and uncertainty rise globally, the world economy is being put to the test, and Canada is no exception.

While Canada’s higher education sector has held strong, making valuable contributions to economic growth and productivity, technology research and innovation, human resource development and community impact, it has faced challenges in recent years.

These stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of disruptive technology and regulatory changes in international student visa issuance, as well as provincial policies on tuition fee structures. In response, universities across the country have developed new approaches to their operations to remain relevant.

Research in universities now needs to directly impact communities and strengthen local economies, all on a tight budget.

As part of his master’s thesis at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, Emile Eeckhout studied how Canadian universities can continue to produce top-quality research and train high-quality students for jobs of the future by adopting the Living Lab (LL) approach.

Living Labs focus on real-life environments, emphasizing a user-centered co-creation process where stakeholders, including users and citizens, are actively involved.

This research was conducted under the co-supervision of Assistant Professor Arman Sadreddin and Associate Professor Suchit Ahuja, in the Department of Supply Chain and Business Technology Management.

Through a case analysis of two Canadian academic entrepreneurial ecosystems, Eeckhout’s research examined how the Living Lab approach can be applied to higher education institutions in Canada. By leveraging the skills of actors from diverse backgrounds within the same ecosystem, the Living Lab ensures that innovative and inclusive solutions, products and ideas have a positive impact and place end-users at the center of the innovation process.

The results of this research provide the following critical positive insights for practitioners in Canadian academic entrepreneurial ecosystems:

• LLs offer opportunities for value co-creation: Engaging in LL projects with actors from the government and academia will lead to more value creation than solitary innovation. Additionally, this will likely be done at a lower cost, as the resources are spread across the ecosystem.
• LLs enable talent development: Actors in the LL, most notably students who participate in LL projects, develop a more comprehensive and workplace-transferable skillset than other students.
• LLs strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems: The creation of LL projects helps strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which has a direct and positive impact on all members through increased economic, research and development and collaboration output.

Drawing on data on best practices and challenges in Canadian higher education institutions, Eeckhout and his co-supervisors identified key strategies for maximizing the benefits of LL projects involving multiple stakeholders.

• Develop an adaptable structure: All actors in the ecosystem must be prepared to adapt to the LL approach, which promotes flexible and agile methods. This means that rigid hierarchical structures that are often found in academia and government need to be modified or optimized.
• Offer technical and administrative support: Any actor participating in LL projects will need to dedicate time and energy to the projects for an extended period. This occurs mainly due to the iterative and flexible approach of LLs. Actors need to be backed and supported by their institution for financial stability and well-being, enabling them to dedicate their efforts toward the LL projects.
• Follow a network strategy: To form the best combinations of actors for different projects, it can be useful to help implement “matchmaker” initiatives. This helps bring together the right people for each unique project and orchestrates the resources across the ecosystem. In the academic context, this unit could be translated as the “Dean of Innovation.”

An entrepreneurial journey, not a destination

Implementing the LL approach helps create a path that guides academic entrepreneurs through the innovation journey by connecting them with various stakeholders across the ecosystem who can help the project grow based on their expertise and the current needs of the innovation endeavour.

This empowers entrepreneurs within higher education institutions to collaborate with members of their innovation ecosystems to co-create value that can have a direct impact on local communities.

The likelihood of success of academic entrepreneurial ecosystems in Canada and other countries facing similar challenges can be maximized by considering the above issues when setting up LLs. This approach can enable Canadian universities to maintain their global reputation, international appeal and high-quality research and teaching outputs, while continuing to deliver trained and entrepreneurial professionals to the Canadian and global workforce.