19. Create world-class facilities Develop and maintainworldwide leadingexperimentalICT and Internet technical and user research facilities that strengthen the position of the Flemishindustrywithin a global market and that will contribute to a sustainable smart society. 12/10/2011 9
This interface, including location-based applications dates back to 2007 and was the result of the I-City Project, in which companies HP and Microsoft collaborated to use Living Lab users and refine this technology. While user feedback was promising and user application ideas cutting edge, even by today’s measures, the technological outcomes were never truly adopted by neither Microsoft nor HP, who treated the project more as a localized branding project, more than a true core research project.In 2008-2010, it was Apple who finally commoditized apps with small resource footprints for dedicated tasks, much like i-City had developed earlier on.The story indicates that succesfull innovation needs a true ecosystem of users/co-creators, but also the business partners who are willing to think out of the box and take the user feedback seriously.Users are not willing sheep who simply accept the technology push, but customers who domesticate your offering as they see fit. Companies who acknowledge and accept this as part of their innovation cycle, are often much more succesfull at keeping up in this rapidly changing technology market.