Category: Startups

Incubating hunter-based healthtech talent for global impact

17/9/2017

a 20hr digital health rapid prototyping challenge

Laughing Mind, with the support of University of Newcastles I2N Program, ran a HealthTech focussed innovation event at Three76Hub to tackle three event challenge topics. These included:

HackCare to transform Palliative + end of Life Care
HackMyCondition for Chronic Disease Management
HackLoneliness for better Mental Health care and connectedness

This venture catalyst event was designed to give early career exposure and cross-disciplinary team experiences to ICT, Design, Business and Health students, informed and shaped by experienced clinicians, consumers and carers on contemporary healthcare issues. Their challenge was to design + develop technical prototypes or outline a concept to address a healthcare problem with targeted use of contemporary technology, in a very short 20hr timeframe.

Image: Group photo of winning team of #HHT17UoN

With the winning team of #HHT17UoN

Our event winners

The contest of ideas amongst 7 teams saw three winners emerge from a high quality series of concept pitches:

First Place: $3000 to Team FeedbackLoop for their iCare4u platform, designed to close the feedback loop that is needed after a patient leaves their clinical appointments, helping physicians understand the efficacy of their prescribed treatment. This pharmacist led team of 7 developed a prototype that helps doctors receive patients' feedback regularly and provides them with treatment data and outcomes to improve their decision making.
Check it out at devpost.com/software/icare4u

Second Place: $2000 for Team Medius for their focus on addressing common root cause elements of the majority of chronic diseases with an app designed to increase the chances of healthy habit development by simple risk reporting and healthy behaviour tracking. With the Hunter region experiencing above average rates of overweight and obesity issues, their concept provides motivational elements to enhance the prospect of regular data tracking, reporting and behavioural change.
Check it out at devpost.com/software/medius-orl751

Third Place: $1000 to "Diamond Jim and the Celestial Four" - their Shedd App aims to "reduce loneliness, depression and suicide in young blokes by using Netflix's algorithm to match you with other nearby blokes who are interested in the same stuff as you". This was a great #menshealth focussed entry which has high relevance for its target audience and works to #hackloneliness - There's already expressions of interest evident for connecting them in with groups like SoldierOn.
Check it out at devpost.com/software/shedd

What a great crowd for #HHT17UoN Clinicians, coders, carers, students, PhDs + Uni staff. Thx for opening address @sallywaichichan pic.twitter.com/hNqQMAKrZn
— laughingmind (@laughingmind) September 15, 2017

positioning the hunter as a healthtech development centre

In wrapping up the event, Brian Hill, Founder of Laughing Mind, noted:

At a hackathon, people come together and use technology to transform ideas into reality. We've been working in this region over the last 4years to help connect the right elements together that position the Hunter as a regionally relevant Digital Health product development centre, testing and refining our venture catalyst event format. The ecosystem has all the right elements: strong Faculties of Health, Design, ICT & Business at UoN; an appetite for innovation and a growing capacity to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs, with strong connectivity to regional audiences, places and population health needs.

As a UoN Healthcare Alumni who's had a chance to work on national and international digital health projects, I'm so excited by the quality we've seen in our 2017 event - the concepts presented address large healthcare market problems and the winners could be good candidates for an Accelerator program. We had the perfect mentor helping teams understand the value of focus and relevance - Jennifer Holland from Throatscope has been through the SharkTank journey and now has her product being distributed in 150 countries, so we were delighted to have her onboard. I think we're seeing the next generation of talent emerge that can make a real difference in Digital Health product development and we'll be working hard to build support for them to take the next steps in their journey. Prizemoney from our event is designed to help kickstart that process, but we'll be working with groups like TheHealthHorizon to ensure our region gets onto the map as a serious contender for HealthTech startups.

The HealthTech Solvathon can be seen in more detail using the hashtag #HHT17UoN or in a curated online story at https://storify.com/laughingmind/healthtech-solvathon. Planning is now underway for a 2018 event, with expressions of interest welcomed.

For people interested in building local DigitalHealth capacity in the Hunter region, consider signing up to our Hunter HealthTech Meetup at https://www.meetup.com/Hunter-HealthTech-Meetup/

0 Comments

hackathons in the innovation value chain

12/5/2017

0 Comments

Hackathons are a rapid discovery and prototyping event to help people with initiative move from Idea to Action + early Traction. It's a short event format that sees them pitch an idea, form a team, build a concept or working prototype within a weekend or less, whilst getting exposure and access to new technologies, teams and problem owners.

We've been delivering and competing in Hackathons and Venture Catalyst events, testing techniques, support tools, event formats and Challenge topics that stimulate new ideas for stubborn problems. We've seen what excites people, how they form teams and select technologies to address challenge topics and working concepts delivered within surprisingly short time-frames. Through this journey, we've delivered a range of regionally based innovation events and seen exciting new initiatives emerge, whilst validating where hackathons sit in the Innovation + Entrepreneurship Value Chain.

We've supported, partnered and worked with established incubators, accelerators, Government Agencies and Universities. We know there's a need for Australia to boost its innovation game in a hotly contested marketplace of ideas, fast paced tech change and smart investment. We need to stimulate the startup ecosystem to help foster bigger appetites for people to experiment with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths) skills, new technologies and take a shot at solving old problems in new ways. It will help prepare us to move from technology consumption to technology creation patterns, creating new value else we risk being left behind faster moving countries and economies. On this front, Australia is lagging and needing large scale acceleration.

Hackathons are a useful event pattern for accelerating innovation within and between companies and teams, helping them to create new products or solve persistent challenges with short, sharp bursts of focused effort. It's why internal innovation initiatives like Shipit at Atlassian become part of the DNA of product development and anticipation, preparation for disruption. By ensuring focus on Challenge topics that matter and inspire action - HealthCare, SmartCities, City Accessibility, RenewableEnergy, AgedCare, Regional Transport, Social Impact, we deliver impactful change, quicken the digital pulse of our communities and results for contemporary problems.

We've confirmed what they're not.
A Hackathon is not a formal, highly structured Incubation or Acceleration experience - but it's a taste of it. There are a range of great companies who Incubate+Accelerate, many of which you'll see in maps like StartRail. However, a Hackathon can be a great start to the incubation journey by helping you pitch and develop an idea, form a team to help build, test it, validate its usefulness with audiences in a short timeframe. Formal incubation of teams with useful ideas or solutions is a logical next step, with groups like Slingshot, BlueChilli and others. Teams that get strong traction and start seeing growth progress into bigger things, like funding, investment, access to new, larger clients and revenue. That's when they start to move into Scale challenges and Acceleration support to help them grow.

They're not deep, complex Intellectual Property generators - but you can build a team with potential. Complex scientific endeavour takes long lead times to train, specialise, hypothesise and waves of investment-test cycles. Let's not kid ourselves - there's only so much you can achieve in a weekend with strangers. However, they're the sort of event where you'll find pioneering spirits and a diverse mix of talents, that you can opt to team up with or collaborate with beyond the event experience. The connection between event participants is taking place in a crucible experience, quickly establishing trust and the chance to showcase or build your skills, get exposure to new possibilities. You might find though, that those productive encounters can see you team with more diverse skills that DO lead to follow on IP generation. We've seen teams form in the course of an event that have seen viable, valuable IP of merged technology platforms.

They're not a Funding event - but they can start you on the path to one. We've seen increased appetite to explore edge innovation through hackathons- it helps identify an array of potential solutions to challenge topics. Winners are typically getting an incentive prize that covers cost, follow on incorporation support or in-kind services that can progress a concept into something that is more fully developed and fundable. The novelty cheques are a fun reward and for some, can pay the bills, but are intended to help kickstart a bigger journey. We're increasingly seeing innovative agencies structuring to provide some of that next round of support.

They're getting more diverse + better, with positive impact effects
We've been part of new knowledge formation and Hackathon Communities of Practice across the globe and within Australia, where event hosts share knowledge, growth tips and moral support. They're an inspirational, talented group of hardworking, connected, generous, innovative individuals wanting to accelerate the pace of innovation in their communities in practical, targeted and fun ways. They're creating event formats to learn, team, experiment, make and fail fast, with support. They're also committed to building a bigger, better, brighter YOU. In the process, we're also building the literacy of technology experimentation, Maker skills and strengthening network density of entrepreneurial skills in our communities.

There's more coming.
Established organisations are increasingly exploring how hackathons and venture catalyst events can enhance edge-based innovation to help see what's on the horizon and prepare for it. Corporates and Governments are realising the inherent value of smart innovation and the need to test ideas, fail fast and learn quickly to maximise effective use of capital.

Love the value of connecting talents and experience in #hackathon events like #hunterhackfest Our collaboration crucible at @innx.hub has merged Hackers, Hustlers & Hipsters to quicken the digital pulse of the #hunterregion

A post shared by Brian Hill (@alaughingmind) on Jun 10, 2016 at 10:23pm PDT

0 Comments

fusion of civic engagement talent at hunterhackfest

15/6/2016

0 Comments

Hunterhackfest quickens the digital pulse of local judges

A Hunter region based hackathon was run on 10-11Jun 2016 as a first event of the 2016 Hunter Innovation Festival to quicken the digital pulse of the Hunter and connect local talent to work on civic + urban engagement problems in a short format 10hr event. Hackathons are "creative, intensive sessions where people come together to solve a problem, improve a process, and experiment using technology" (see Hackathons Australia). They are a proven innovation + disruption model that can accelerate the delivery of new technical solutions to stubborn problems, whilst also creating new economic value, innovations and fundable businesses in a short "pitch+prototype" cycle.

HunterHackFest sought to fuse Hackers (engineering folk - software, hardware, civil), Hustlers (business folk) and Hipsters (creative folk) to join forces and pitch a concept related to one of 4 event categories: UrbanCooling || SmartArts || MoveMe || DigitalCityZen. Gathering on Friday night at The Edwards Bar in Newcastle West, 22 competitors and attending guests heard project ideas pitched with passion and formed into 8 teams. These talented teams then jumped over to the other side of Parry Street to work from 8am-6pm at the beautiful Innx Workspace, pitching their final concepts from 7pm on 11Jun2016 in a bid to quicken the pulse of the panel of 3 judges from Eighteen04, Laughing Mind and Newcastle City Council.

Of the 7 teams pitching, the following worthy winners emerged:
Joint 1st Place (sharing $1500cash): Team EasyPeasy (Parking made easy) / Team Pretty City (crowdsourced urban beautification of rundown spaces);
Digital CityZen ($1000 cash): Team City Hall Solutions, with their grassroots social impulse aggregation platform to provide moment to moment visibility of community sentiment;
Crowd Fave ($500 prize): Team ReFind, connecting waste stream suppliers to adaptive reuse demands.

For the curious, details of the competing teams entries are at Hunterhackfest.devpost.com The event format proved popular, with the following sample of testimonials revealing a little of the spirit of the event:

HunterHackFest was such a good opportunity to meet other passionate and talented members of the local community. It's fantastic to see so much energy being channelled in such a short amount of time to generate some incredible ideas. Big thanks to Laughing Mind and all of the partners who made HunterHackFest happen!

Fantastic event. Professionally run. Support always available throughout the event. Well worth the travel for me to experience working and collaborating with others.

Yesterday I participated in one of my top "out of comfort zone" moments. The entire process from start to finish is loaded with unique experiences that only a process like this could offer. I can't wait for the next one.

This hackathon was particularly inspiring and engaging because of the variety of people there (hipsters, hustlers and hackers). It made for a really amazing vibe and was super fun. I'd encourage anyone who wants to expand their horizons, or even just meet cool people to come along!

Designed and run as one of Laughing Minds venture catalyst events, HunterHackFest was made possible by the generous support of local Champion sponsors Slingshot, Catalyst partner Newcastle City Council and our wonderful supporters: The Edwards Bar, Innx Workspace, The Lunaticks Society, Eighteen04 and Hunter Innovation Festival.

Love the value of connecting talents and experience in #hackathon events like #hunterhackfest Our collaboration crucible at @innx.hub has merged Hackers, Hustlers & Hipsters to quicken the digital pulse of the #hunterregion

A photo posted by Brian Hill (@alaughingmind) on Jun 10, 2016 at 10:23pm PDT

'Digital City Zen' category (sponsored by NCC) won by Cityhall community engagement platform #hunterhackfest pic.twitter.com/rsiQjJAIQF
— Tim Chaston (@TimChaston) June 11, 2016

It's a tie! Congrats to joint winning teams Pretty City and Easy [P]easy #hunterhackfest #hunterinnovationfestival pic.twitter.com/wsg7GeWmKo
— Tim Chaston (@TimChaston) June 11, 2016

0 Comments

Creating new healthtech ventures with Uni of newcastle

15/4/2016

0 Comments

UoN Student Teams win >$120k incentives in local Hackathon for new HealthTech ventures

Media Release: Thursday, 21 April 2016
Students, UoN Alumni and Tech Industry professionals from local and international firms converged at University of Newcastle’s Auchmuty Library on 15-17Apr2016 to participate in a locally designed and run Hackathon to simulate a Health Technology startup experience. In a Crucible + Catalyst event format, teams worked with platforms from Atlassian and IBM to develop new HealthTech ideas with the support of experienced mentors and UoN Alumni.

The winning team took home $1500 in cash and $120,000 in IBM service credits to pursue venture potential for their AnxietyData wearable integration using biodata from Microsofts Band to improve users personal health. Runners up were focussed on improving access to 3d-printed prosthetics for amputees; and nutrition support from IBMs ‘ChefWatson’ Artificial Intelligence platform.

Using a novel format, the event was designed to engage with stakeholders facing health challenges in a distributed team challenge that connects local ICT, Design, Business and Health students with Clinicians, Carers and Consumers from Regional, Rural and Remote locations. Using social media platforms like Twitter, people remote to the event were able to Pitch, Select and Connect with onsite teams from 7pm Fri 15Apr2016 and work with them in secure chat room conversations over 48hrs to create new technology products and ventures to meet looming healthcare challenges.

Participants in the event went on a fast-learning curve as they dug deep into the APIs of leading edge platforms like IBMs Watson “Cognitive Computing’ infrastructure, Microsofts wearable Band and came up to speed on leading edge products from Atlassian to support their coding efforts and boost their career prospects.

Brian Hill, Event Designer, had this to say about this weekends event:

“UON has for many years developed a strong track record of producing medical and allied health professionals who do great work in regional, rural and remote Australia. It’s also gaining a strong reputation for quality ICT grads, who are getting snapped up by companies like Atlassian, rated as Australia’s Best Place to Work in 2015. As an Allied Health Professional, UoN Alumni and founder of a Tech consulting firm, I wanted to see what happens if we merge those capabilities in Health and ICT by giving students exposure to leading edge tech platforms, experienced mentors and a way of connecting to regional Australia to solve our most pressing population health challenges.

By using a Lifestyle Medicine focus, enabled by tech platforms and wearable technologies like FitBit or Apples ResearchKit and CareKit platforms, we are seeing how global scale health research and interventions are now possible. It’s up to nimble, emerging players like our local grads to see those possibilities and respond to them, with the chance to create their own tech products and ventures in our local ‘Ideas Boom’. I’m delighted to be putting this event on with Uni of Newcastle - the support of IBM, Atlassian, Blue Chilli, Laughing Mind and Forsythes Recruitment helped us put together a prize pool of more than $124,000 in startup support, which is humbling and gives our local grads a great kick-start in building their own ventures for local hi-tech options. It’s an important part of our local ‘Silicon Coast’ ecosystem initiatives and the broader development of a new technology-enabled economic base for the Hunter."

For event information, see www.hackinghealthtech.com or #HHT16UoN on Twitter
Event images are available at https://goo.gl/photos/w7WPHpjP8mL2PM4b9

For further information, contact:
Brian Hill (Event MC and Founder, Laughing Mind Pty Ltd) on 0414 430 450 or email hackinghealthtech@laughingmind.com

End.

Founded in 2004, Australian company Laughing Mind is the Central Coast + Hunter Regions resident Atlassian Experts partner, catalysing + supporting the growth of new and established businesses in our region with world class collaboration systems + smart portable solar products to power digital nomads. We use a combination of IoT, AugmentedReality, DigitalHealth Wearables and physical activity to create urban space event activations with a population health twist in a way that stimulates and catalyses curiosity in Making and PositiveComputing. With a strong background in Health technology consulting, we want to create new generation businesses for our regions that can mix it with the worlds best.

0 Comments

incubating a 'silicon coast' culture for business

11/3/2015

0 Comments

I recently moved my companies to the Central Coast after over a decade of living in Canberra and a brief stint at Maitland from 2013-2014. Whilst there, I've worked with leading companies and startups, learning lots. In conversations I've had with a range of businesses and new graduates, what's clear is the gap between entrepreneurial readiness of new grads and the shift of employers towards a casualised workforce e.g. http://www.smartcompany.com.au/people/recruitment/45984-why-2015-is-the-year-of-the-freelancer.html

For new grads and youth seeking work, that creates a lot of pressure to be able to be ready for freelancing + casual workforce engagement, which requires a bare minimum level of small business competence + focus. In my own work with local Smart Work Hubs and regional co-working spaces, I've been doing some ecosystem mapping of what supports exist in the region + what possibilities exist with boosting inter-region linkages to foster a startup|entrepreneur focus, covered in the following blog articles:
http://www.laughingmind.com/blog/tracking-innovation-entrepreneurs-network-growth
http://www.laughingmind.com/blog/central-coast-startup-support-ecosystem

As a lifestyle choice and place for business whilst raising family, the Central Coast has a great deal to offer. I'm concerned that there appears to be little thought given as to how the region will prevent brain-drain of talent out of the region and help locals, especially youth, see that it's increasingly viable to run a successful startup venture in an area that is advantaged with early NBN connectivity. We need this sort of focus if we want to be internationally competitive, let alone regionally.

.@stilgherrian: "AU isn't up there with rapidly advancing countries [incl. NZ!]; slowly receding" #innovation pic.twitter.com/iP5Jhdnebu
— Steve Wilson (@Steve_Lockstep) March 11, 2015

My local candidates questions for the 2015 NSW State Election are:
1. What's your intention going into this state election to create the right conditions for attracting, nurturing and retaining the next generation of digital savvy entrepreneurs? (Hint: needs more than just physical infrastructure. Needs a community, business + cultural infrastructure as well).

2. How can we encourage those considering such a pathway to reconsider the region, noting a startup can increasingly be done from anywhere? (Great Startups Can Be Built Anywhere: A Look at Regional Entrepreneurial Strengths)

0 Comments

Central Coast startup support ecosystem

1/3/2015

0 Comments

In our last post on Tracking Innovation Entrepreneurs Network Growth we showed the value of tracking + mapping the entrepreneurial support ecosystem to see how it grows over time, using the Sydney StartRail map by BlueChilli as a starting point, with a need identified to provide a localised variation for the Central Coast entrepreneurs community.

Whilst the current iteration won't look like the finished StartRail map, it represents a starting point for conversations locally, noting the following issues that emerged during the mapping process:

Where do local startups go when seeking incubation + acceleration advice or support? Who are their local Mentor network? With nothing visible, its easy for young entrepreneurs to go elsewhere, rather than create their own local story;
How can bridges be built with larger regional centres North and South of the coast when wanting to raise capital for growth? To what extent are the Sydney VC's focussed solely on Sydney?;
Where is the local equivalent of USyd Incubate, that acts as a bridge between University and StartUp phase for graduates?

V0.2 of Central Coast StartupSupport Ecosystem - it's a starting point for discussions.

Before you go commenting, yes, we know the Central Coast has a youth unemployment problem and is seeing its manufacturing sector shrink. We do take the time to read Economy.ID Central Coast but that's also why we see upside opportunity for the area and chose to relocate to the region. In our Digital Maker chat series at Nexus Smart Hub, we keep coming across great little local examples of Digital Talent playing on the national and world stage. A mapping exercise like this helps to spot the gaps in a local ecosystem and think about the work required to address them.

To Grow Your Local #Startup Community, First Map it Out http://t.co/0eQTR35Sxj via Thx @founding A timely article for our own local journey.
— Quiet Rush (@QuietRush) March 7, 2015

0 Comments

tracking innovation Entrepreneurs network growth

26/2/2015

2 Comments

Entrepreneurs must lead the startup community.

The leaders must have a long-term commitment.

The startup community must be inclusive of anyone who wants to participate in it.

The startup community must have continual activities that engage the entire entrepreneurial stack.

We love the work that BlueChilli do in creating next generation businesses and their role in the Australian Startup incubation scene across Sydney and their visible leadership in Australia. Their StartRail map is based on a legendary piece of Information Visualisation, the London Undergound rail network map. Since moving my companies from Canberra to the Coast, I've been talking with a range of people+ businesses over the last 18mths about Entrepreneur driven networks, building on the findings by Brad Feld in his Boulder Thesis, where Brad states:

In related work, Kauffman noted a related + relevant set of findings in their study of the 1 Million Cups program, where their Think Locally, Act Locally: Building a Robust Entrepreneurial Ecosystem study found:

Entrepreneurship is a local phenomenon.

Entrepreneurs follow local entrepreneurs.

Local networks thicken over time.

Entrepreneurial demand is high for peer-based learning and networking.

Different programs reach different entrepreneurs.

With some of the work that we've done in the past using Social Network Analysis techniques and visualisations, we know that each sampling is only ever going to be a point in time snapshot, showing a networks state. Where it gets interesting, is watching how local networks thicken over time. Let's use BlueChillis StartRail map as a good living example, contrasting Version1 with their latest Version3 iteration - whilst it's not a true dynamic SNA view, its use of the UnderGround map visualisation technique still speaks volumes in providing some local examples of the Kauffman study.

In our #centralcoast #digitalmakers session, we'll be chatting about localising @BlueChilliGroup Startrailv1 map pic.twitter.com/Z48tyDKlKw
— laughingmind (@laughingmind) March 5, 2015

@BlueChilliGroup StartRail map is a good living example of @bfeld Boulder Thesis. V3 of http://t.co/HBd4biDZlD pic.twitter.com/NFKSgIFg77
— laughingmind (@laughingmind) March 7, 2015

In our 2015 DigitalMaker Meetup series (being run at Nexus Smart Hub) we're looking to grow the digital skills capability and network for 'Silicon Coasters' (digital savvy firms + freelancers based out of Sydney in attractive regional settings). The group recognised the value of maps like this one from SiliconValleyMap to help showcase an areas capability:

There's plenty of recognition that digital talent does not need to reside in city based superclusters like Silicon Valley, with the downside risks that come with cultural homogeneity, wealth concentration and disparity. Diversity is a good thing for Technologists, just as it is for regional and national economies (take a look at the RDAHunter Regional Economic Strategy to see how many assumptions in their core case have changed since 2013 with plummeting resource prices and pro-renewables signals from large capital markets e.g. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/australia-rates-a-zero-as-big-solar-booms-around-the-world-61174) .

On that endnote, its time to go see what we can do about localising the StartRail map to cover DigitalMakers and Silicon Coasters on the Hunter + Central Coast regions of NSW, building on some of our earlier focus on CoWorking spaces. Come help us grow the pipeline of diverse digital destinations to create new futures from. Let us know who you think ought to be on a Hunter+Central Coast map in the comments block below, or tweet us.

2 Comments

smartworkhubs and coworking spaces - similar but different

2/12/2014

2 Comments

In recent conversations and presentations with groups focussed on boosting the uptake of Telework and Flexible Workplace arrangements, we often see the terms "CoWorking" and "Smart Work Hubs" used interchangeably. Whilst at face glance there are many similarities between the two, there also remain important distinctions between them. In a nutshell, it comes down to the extent of their focus on value creation, either within the facility, or the facility occupants community.

To differentiate from routine commercial real estate offerings, both need to create value but each go about it in a different way.

With a long background in conducting detailed workplace assessments as part of our Empowering Business Wellbeing services, we tend to take a fairly close look at the visible facility (what we can see and touch, or the facility hardware) and the underlying (less visible) elements of a workspace (culture, strategy, demography, human factors, acoustics, messaging architecture). These are important contributors to business value and the business ecosystem that operates within a physical space.

With a current NSW Government Smart Work Hub Pilot actively underway, creating value for NSW communities with the introduction of Smart Work Hubs to act as an intermediate space between Work + Home based workplaces, there is a Corporate Real Estate disruption and renewal pattern at work, seeking to create meaningful solutions to a range of business pressures.

These are what we see and experience as the Top 3 Differences:

Smart Work Hubs are pitching at larger businesses, but are also viable for SME's: A salt + pepper distribution of SMEs and larger anchor tenants can make for an interesting facility mix of occupants - each of them will have differing needs profiles, which the facility may be able to support but collaboration anti-patterns can also work against them;
CoWorking spaces are fundamentally more attuned to Freelancers, SMEs and startups, often bolstered by the presence + creation of a services ecosystem that value-adds to the experience, with education, incubation and business accelerator functions to help members outgrow the space quickly. However, those spaces can also exist along a continuum of value-creation, with low end offerings of deskspace only vs higher end offerings of a value creating ecosystem of partner businesses;
A SmartWorkHub, with its focus on larger anchor tenants will attract occupiers with an established level of value + stability created within their business, creating a corresponding risk of lower levels of service-seeking + innovation. That level of stability also comes with a bigger issue of inertia, as larger firms struggle to come to terms with how to manage remote workforces and embed ways of making remote work visible. Conversely, smaller co-working spaces with higher variability in their occupancy mix and more of a bias to SMEs are more likely to be attuned to and responsive to needs for value creation.

Here's our take on the Top 3 Similarities:

Both experience occupancy and vacancy management pressures against a background need for inherently flexible spaces. Corporate Real Estate businesses represent an immediate adjacent market that competes for mindshare and $ from the occupants of CoWorking and SmartWorkHubs as alternate places of work. We've worked in a range of spaces over time that have peaked and waned or disappeared altogether in the face of cashflow pressures - spaces that create value, listen|respond and enjoy ongoing patronage from their occupants or have low turnover or good vacancy management processes will enjoy stronger cashflow;
Both need effective community managers + data - the community manager within either facility has a key role as a PlaceMaker, needing to remain curious, attuned and responsive to the needs of workspace participants. The Community Manager is the person best placed to understand the daily rhythm and pulse of the facility and the community it encloses, backed up with an eye for detail and data. Facility Management as a professional discipline is recognised as well-intentioned but poorly informed (1) with a lack of evidence driven data about Occupancy patterns - it's also part of why Google places such a premium on measuring everything it does in managing their workspaces;
Both help tackle the problems created by workforce drift from home regions to places where the work is performed, addressing traffic congestion, work-life balance issues and the need for greater levels of workforce flexibility and local economy stimulus. For that focus alone, they deserve to be supported and used.

This is not about managing facilities. This is about enabling communities. And as far as I am concerned, that is an aspiration a world away from our current collective capability; from any perspective. The greatest productivity measure of all? Perhaps it’s the smiles on people’s faces.

Alexi Marmot observed that the Great Place to Work® Institute recognises pride, camaraderie, credibility, respect and fairness as key attributes to the very best workplaces they are aware of. What of the role of physical space then in this complex socio-spatial milieu? Hints toward an answer might lie in the ‘equation’:
workspace + culture = workplace (2)

EndNotes
1. Ian Ellison, providing an Event Review of 2014 IFMA Workplace Strategy Summit, in Work and Place Journal #4, p4; http://workplaceinsight.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Work+Place4mje.pdf
2. Ibid, p5;

2 Comments

Incubating hunter-based healthtech talent for global impact

a 20hr digital health rapid prototyping challenge

Our event winners

positioning the hunter as a healthtech development centre

hackathons in the innovation value chain

fusion of civic engagement talent at hunterhackfest

Hunterhackfest quickens the digital pulse of local judges

Creating new healthtech ventures with Uni of newcastle

UoN Student Teams win >$120k incentives in local Hackathon for new HealthTech ventures

incubating a 'silicon coast' culture for business

Central Coast startup support ecosystem

tracking innovation Entrepreneurs network growth

smartworkhubs and coworking spaces - similar but different

Archives

Our blog

Categories