At EU Project FRANCIS, we have held our first industry roundtable to share the findings from the literature review and interviews conducted in order to use this insights to prepare for the upcoming Frugal Innovation Challenges. It was very exciting to exchanges ideas with the industry partners in FRANCIS, Agorize, BSH, Helioz, as well as SENA and as a special guest, the Founder of SAGE & YellowX and Global Ambassador for UC Berkeley SCET, on how to successfully engage citizens from marginalized groups in the development of frugal solutions.
Step 1
Participants discussed the motivation and barriers to engaging citizens in frugal innovation, as well as proper recruitment and communication channels.
Step 2
The discussion then continued about how to use various recruitment and communication channels to get the citizens involved.
Participants also considered the gaps they believe their companies should address to be successful in this endeavor and some of the biggest surprises experienced during the innovation process.
Step 3
Finally, the participants reflected on the key takeaways and next steps for their respective companies when organizing the next Challenges.
Conclusion
This first round table provided good feedback and ideas for the FRANCIS team and these will be taken into account in preparing and developing the materials for the next industry roundtable scheduled for November 2021.