Putting our expertise and spaces at the service of the health innovation chain.
The Lemanic Arc is home to a large number of institutions operating in the field of health innovation. These run the gamut from ideas generation all the way to product and concept marketing.
In this region on the north side of Lake Geneva, start-ups receive the guidance and support of various schools of higher learning and of numerous private-sector players across the different maturity phases of innovation. Among other things, they can benefit from accelerators, incubators, and co-working spaces.
Is the ecosystem truly in sync with the field of health in general and with the field of health care in particular? The answer is “no”, not really. These fields logically impose a set of precautions dictated by the very nature of the project end user. The ethical and practical rules that surround the innovation process in these fields delay, if not prohibit, any sort of early clinical testing.
However, the ideas and products considered deserve to be analysed early on in terms of fit with clinical practices, ergonomics, and impact on target users and professionals.
The need for early validation brings to light a missing link in the health innovation chain: access to a laboratory for running experiments and tests in a safe, pre-clinical environment.
The SILAB remedies this gap by offering a space where innovative concepts can be discussed, tested scientifically, and tried out under real-world conditions. Thanks to the support and expertise of the teams at La Source, proof of concept (POC) can be demonstrated at different points across the chain.
POC should be a natural, integral part of the innovation creation process. It can be sought at any time and repeatedly, as required, depending on the project. As the exercise is conducted far upstream in the process, it is essential to determining a project’s feasibility and preventing failure in the early going.
The Source Innovation Lab is a space covering over 300 m2 where original, fruitful collaborations can be generated between the different players and stakeholders in innovative projects.
The space serves to provide temporary premises for structures and people wishing to test innovative ideas, concepts or prototypes under optimal, safe conditions with the help of health and/or education experts.
Interconnected with the Senior Lab, a simulated hospital and two simulation apartments, the SILAB takes advantage of all of their functions and application potential to create a professional biotope perfectly suited to running POC tests and exercises.
Dr Dominique Truchot-Cardot
Full Professor UAS, Vice-Dean for Innovation