Innovation Labs 2008
This year, I’m really fortunate to be running the BBC Innovation Labs. Labs are essentially a way for the BBC to work with independent companies at a very early stage in the creative process, ultimately funding R&D in the independent sector.
We issue a series of "briefs" from a broad range of departments around the BBC. This year Mobile, Audio & Music, Interactive TV, Vision, Nations & Regions and Journalism are taking part. The Labs launch over three stages – the Launch Days, the Short Listing and then the five day rapid prototyping event which we call Labs!
We ran the Launch Days earlier this month and saw nearly 300 people from over 200 companies across eight cities and 11 days. And if that’s not enough numbers for you: last year, we saw 500 applications for 40 places. You can now see the presentations from the Launch Days over on the blog, where we document the whole process.
Now the important part kicks off - the application process. You can head over here and fill in the application form from December 1st. The site will accept applications until the 31st of January when we’ll start the short listing - we’ll be letting everyone know how they got on through February, then in March and April we’ll be running the Labs.
I’m going to talk more about the Lab process in another post nearer the time - but if you have any questions or want to know more, drop us a line.
Matthew Cashmore is Development Producer, BBC Future Media & Technology, Research and Innovation. Contributor photo by Matt Locke.
Comments
well done bbc for bbc labs projects. Congratulations from neonstreet.co.uk and hopestreetmusic.net. in Cambridge, we all work so hard to bring great talent to everyone!