Developing Great Ideas through Innovation Hubs

Innovation hubs mean different things to different people.  In its broadest sense the idea of an innovative hub is based on the notion of a common space for individuals who share the same interest and expertise with the sole objective of building a community of innovators that constantly produce solutions to everyday challenges through continuous collaboration.  Similarities in interest and expertise can come in form of goals, technology or problems.  An overarching theme in a hub is the connectivity and networking with investors and financiers so that the developed solutions can be commercially deployed.  Put in another way an innovation hub is made up of a system of connections that puts individuals, firms, startups, incubators, and accelerators together to transform innovative ideas into technologically feasible solutions.  The above is articulated assuming that there is a general consensus that innovation is the “generation of ideas that if deployed give rise to better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, and existing market requirement.” We also subscribe to the notion that ideation and creativity can’t be pre-specified and so an innovation hub aim to create a structure in which individuals serendipitous interact in order to promote ideas. 

It is important to distinguish innovation hubs from incubators and accelerators.  It is not difficult to see an incubator as a firm or organization that typically charges entrepreneurs at the very initial seed stage rent in exchange for its services. Such services include office space, mentoring, administrative assistance and providing introductions with financiers, legal and accounting advisors as well as technology transfer consultants.  Meanwhile a business accelerator is a short-term program that instead of charging rent, offer their services in exchange for an equity stake in the startup companies they help.  Most innovative hubs will possess these three components, namely idea generation, incubation and idea acceleration.

Now that we have the basic understanding of innovation hubs, incubators and accelerators out of the way, it is now proper to outline what hubs do.  In a nutshell a hub is a technological, cultural and creative platform created in order to form a thriving startup community.  The following are a few of the many diverse services offered by hubs; office space, bandwidth, meeting rooms, links to investors, links to financier,  and business incubators who are interested in working in an innovation-stimulating environment.  At a hub innovators can experiment as barriers to new ideas are removed, and ideas are shepherded into commercially viable projects.  Anyone with a great idea should consider furthering their idea in a hub environment.  At the hub environment you will find the following that are believed to be critical to the full life cycle of cutting edge technology; network of other entrepreneurs, office space, bandwidth, brainstorming discussions, guidance, links to financing and investors.