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GezondheidFabriek (HealthFactory) innovative eco system
Published on 22 February 2019
Netherlands
Drenthe
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
The GezondheidFabriek (HealthFactory), first established in 2014, kicked off seriously in 2015. HF aims to contribute to a healthy and social society by stimulating and facilitating collaboration and innovation projects, bringing together health and care providers, citizens, entrepreneurs, researchers, and government. Only by really working together can we tackle today’s complex challenges in the area of health, wellbeing and living. Challenges concern e.g. the connection between science and industry, regulations and standards, ethical, security and privacy issues, complex financing structure and viable business models, and the role of government in innovation. Apart from promoting collaboration, HF’s hallmarks are: person-centric, demand-driven and open innovation.
The HF is a not-for-profit, open work and learning environment at the interface of technological innovation, big data value creation and social innovation.
The HF has an (inter)national scope, and its partner network is not regional, limited to the Province of Flevoland or Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. It currently (2016) has a pipeline of ca. 25 projects, varying from European to local, from product to service to system/ process innovations and many more.
The HF is a not-for-profit, open work and learning environment at the interface of technological innovation, big data value creation and social innovation.
The HF has an (inter)national scope, and its partner network is not regional, limited to the Province of Flevoland or Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. It currently (2016) has a pipeline of ca. 25 projects, varying from European to local, from product to service to system/ process innovations and many more.
Expert opinion
The HealthFactory is a not-for-profit innovation centre dedicated to the health sector. The innovation centre not only provides a physical space but also support for innovative projects in the health sector. It is a good example of a quadruple helix institutional arrangement among private companies, public institutions, universities, and civil society to promote collaboration on complex challenges, such as science-technology transfer, regulations and transfer, open innovation strategies, intellectual property, the creation of spin-offs, and funding opportunities, in the health sector.
Suggestions for potential Good Practice transfer:
-The creation of quadruple helix networks in strategic regional sectors can be applied across different European regions with different institutional contexts.
-As pointed in the Good Practice, regional innovation centres in strategic sectors must combine hardware (physical infrastructure) with software (skills and knowledge) and orgware (learning and capacity-building).
Suggestions for potential Good Practice transfer:
-The creation of quadruple helix networks in strategic regional sectors can be applied across different European regions with different institutional contexts.
-As pointed in the Good Practice, regional innovation centres in strategic sectors must combine hardware (physical infrastructure) with software (skills and knowledge) and orgware (learning and capacity-building).
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
To set up the actual physical facility (excluding the development of projects), a project budget of ca. €2.9M was made available by the so called Investment Fund Flevoland Almere, the City of Almere plus private partners (industry 42%/ government 58%).
Evidence of success
HF has positioned itself successfully as the preferred local partner/vehicle, clustering ehealth innovation projects. eHealth is a new market, with few products being actually implemented. HF certainly offers partners the opportunity to launch a spin off or generate a license. HF's evidence of succes is the number of projects that are being carried out and facilitated bij HF. That is their role. Notable products are the co-development of an autonomous wheelchair, Zorgbel and MyWepp.
Potential for learning or transfer
HF is a beautifull example of how to make the quadruple helix collaborate. Many have come to learn from the HF model and everybody is welcome to come visit. HF proves how a physical center where hardware, sorftware and "orgware" can be developed and co-created between educational institutions, end-users, businesses and governmental institutions should work.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
De Gezondheidfabriek (Health Factory)
Netherlands
Drenthe
Contact