WHEN INNOVATION SUPPORTED BY FAB LABS BECOMES A TOOL FOR TERRITORIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: EXAMPLE OF THE FIRST MOBILE FAB LAB IN FRANCE

摘要

The popularity of digital spaces as a support for the innovation process has been widely demonstrated and described in literature. The proliferation of DS (Digital Spaces) in various countries, whether in public institutions (universities, engineering schools, local authorities, etc.) or private organisations (big companies, SMEs) is a fact. Following this wave, in 2010 the University of Lorraine set up a Living Lab recognised by the European network ENOLL and then a Fab Lab in 2011 as defined by Neil Gershenfeld from MIT. However, even if these spaces are doing a good job in their functions of accelerating collaborative innovation, it is clear that they are mostly located in cities, serving a privileged type of users and very often not SMEs. At the same time, there is also an exponential increase in the offer of seminars on creativity and innovation support, or conferences on the piloting of the innovation process, but still in these same urban settings. In fact, a whole range of companies, especially rural SMEs, is forgotten in the offer of services to improve their ability to create and innovate. Based on these two observations and on a survey of 36 SMEs' needs regarding the definition of a dynamic of innovation, a school of engineers located in a French city set up a "mobile Fab Lab" in 2014. The present paper will show how this device can allow rural SMEs to access 3D technologies to support their creative and innovative processes. Indeed, this innovative truck can deploy a surface of 20m~2 in which creativity software, tactile tables, 3D printers, scanners and laser cutting are available to these entrepreneurs and industrials that are located very far from the urban centres and research centres. We will comment on our experiences after the first months of working experimentation and will propose some improvements and challenges to address.