Living Lab in Smartcity
Living Lab in Bukchon
Located in Jongno-gu, Bukchon is a place where many foreign tourists come to see Hanok(the traditional Korean house). We usually know it as a hanok village, but in Bukchon, various attempts are being made besides the tourism industry. Residents in Bukchon are solving local problems by taking a leading role in the overall living lab process, from finding problems to experimenting with technology to spreading and applying them.
As in the case of Bukchon Hanok Village, have you heard about the Living Lab, where ordinary everyday life becomes a living laboratory? Living Lab is an attempt to find a solution to a variety of social problems using living laboratories as laboratories throughout our field of life.
The first concept of living lab was introduced at MIT in 2004. We believe that the supplier-driven outcomes of superior technology do not help solve the fundamental problems of social problems, so we have a Living Lab Living Lab that gathers real users. With this concept in place, Living Labs has really focused on everything from parking to the environment to housing and jobs.
We are actively working to introduce this living lab as a new social innovation model at home and abroad. In addition to introducing Living Lab in urban regeneration and smartcity creation, we are striving to develop and expand Living Lab itself.
The role of citizens, which was only an object of application and observation, is becoming a subject that we make together. The fact that the parties directly experiencing the problem are the subjects of the problem solver can bring the problem closer.
In general, LivingLab expands collaboration among participants, allowing them to share common goals. However, each role has a slightly different role, and a different organization and purpose of using the developed results. Companies, local governments (government), research institutes, and users can be the main agents of living labs, and organize living labs' goals and development structure slightly differently according to their interests and purposes.
4 types of Living Lab
First, Utilizer-driven Living Lab is the way that companies that develop and test products and services lead Living Labs as users.
The Living Lab activity cycle is very fast because strategic R & D activities are carried out in the Living Lab and thorough management is performed from performance creation to commercialization. However, sustainability is not high because user engagement is relatively low.
Second is Enabler-driven Living Lab. This type is for local governments and others to participate in innovation activities as the basis and facilitator of living lab activities. There is a tendency to focus on solving social problems by forming a network around the project rather than a specific subject.
As a result, Living Labs networks are not biased toward specific entities, which makes them more sustainable than corporate leaders. In addition, activities with relatively broad targets and social goals are possible, and the perspective of approach in the context of regional development is strong.
Third way called that Provider-driven Living Lab in which innovative actors, such as universities and research institutes, lead innovation activities. Unlike other types that focus on generating results, the focus is on the use of already-produced technologies.
As a stage of <Ideation— Objectification— Development Activities>, it is linked to and applied to other projects and has a structure that acts as a clue for new research.
Last one is User-driven Living Lab. Problem solving through cooperative activities is the main purpose that encompasses the widest range of activities. Living Lab’s network is formed around the user community, and innovation activities are also focused on user interests.
It emphasizes the point of being ‘user-driven’ and has the advantage of being able to supplement the problem of the researcher-centered, top-down method.
At the end of this page,
As technology advances, so does citizens’ sense. Living Lab is also a concept that is attracting attention as a concept that can lead a better life with the convergence of various advanced technologies and citizen participation.
Living Labs, which is user-centered, emphasizes the role and behavior of users more than any other technology. In addition to testing changes, we participate in many stages of pre-planning, development, and sharing feedback.
