The Living Labs at the test of user-centered innovation - proposal of a methodological framework

This paper builds on the experience of PACA Labs, a public program launched by the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (France) to foster digital innovation in territorial communities of the region. This program aims to support projects involving experiments with new uses of information and communication technologies adopting a user-centered approach. Presenting characteristics of a large Regional “meta-living lab”, the program faces methodological issues concerning the involvement of users in the innovation process and evaluation of their contribution. The purpose of the paper is to propose a methodological framework to identify issues and provide some rational answers about the identification of users, the choice of forms of assessment, the good methods in terms of data collection and the types of skills likely to implement them. We believe, in fact, that as long as the concept of Living Lab will not impose limiting conditions for its implementation, this concept is condemned to remain in the state of declaration of intent whose formulation is only rhetoric.