Alcotra’s Harmonization Cube best practice criteria focus on how living labs function, and what their outcome are in terms of innovation. The six sides of the cube corresponds with key aspects: User involvement, Service Creation, Governance, Innovation Outcomes, Infrastructure and methods and tools. The three rows of the cube refer to the three development phases of a living lab: Set up, Sustainability and Availability. Finally , the three columns reflect three common aspects of a living lab: The organizational, The technological and the Contextual issues of a living lab. It can be used as a self-assessment tool, which is aimed at helping Living Lbs identify their development needs. This tool can assist Smart Labs to improve their testing activities and ensure that they deliver the best quality of services to companies within the field of innovation. It is a practical tool for visual representation when used with spider diagrams, of existing strengths and the ones that need to e developed. It can help standardize the actions of the Lab in all stages of an innovation process.
Prospective uses:
The original intent of the harmonization cube was to measure the compliance to best practices for projects and products in the Living Labs. The Harmonization Cube is especially relevant when conducting a self-assessment to see whether an organization is following best practices related to all the aspects of good product or service creation. Adding spider web diagram usage, enhances this process because it allows the stakeholders to see the results in a clear visual representation.