Published on 23.06.2022 under General
“Innovation is controlling coincidences”
– Innovation Labs, MakerSpaces and more at universities
Of course, coincidences cannot be controlled, but as an actor in an ecosystem I can make them more likely. To do this, you have to be very aware of your role in the ecosystem, and this requires encounters – digital and analogue – in which people randomly pick up a thread of ideas during the coffee break or find the piece of the puzzle for a business idea by doing something together. What happens after the encounter is no longer random. It needs to be organized: Concrete follow-ups, first prototypes, consultation hours and more. Carsten Schröder, Vice-President, FH Münster, and Dr. Ronald Kriedel, Managing Director at the Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer, TU Dortmund, agreed. They are responsible for the topics of entrepreneurship, transfer, innovation promotion and research funding at the respective universities.
Ronald Kriedel sees MakerSpace as a method that supports the process. Carsten Schröder emphasizes the importance of a MakerSpace as the entrance door to highly technical laboratories, the use of which requires a great deal of technical know-how. Transparency about different locations is important to both of them: They should be open to everyone, be easily accessible and cooperate with each other, because the innovators should be able to decide where they want to work.
Both are sure that innovation labs and other places of innovation will stay because creative places inspire innovation.
