Creation and innovation workshops propose an environment which highly prone to generating ideas, businesses and implicitly money. Within these workshops, talented people, individuals with a vision, and/or specialists from different sectors may come together to innovate, to work on and develop projects, businesses, or simply to share ideas. Of course, since this approach is somewhat novel in Romania, the format especially popular among young people, who, in addition to ideas, have the enthusiasm and conviction that such meetings may lead to great things.
The newly completed Innovation Labs from Timișoara confirms this. Basically, after 24 hours of work and consultation, the approximately 30 young people present have developed no less than 14 product/business ideas related to one of the six areas proposed: Smart Territories, Agriculture, Cyber-Security, Energy, Health & Lifestyle Retail and Smart Cities.
The 14 ideas were selected based on a preliminary voting process, while in the second day of the event, the jury selected nine winning ideas that will be offered support in developing prototypes for their proposed products. Basically, the teams that advanced these nine ideas will now begin a three-month training program, during which they will benefit from the contribution of designated mentors, together with whom the products will be developed. Apart from the technological, logistical and human support that they benefit from in order to be able to materialize their ideas, the selected teams will also have the chance, to present their prototypes to potential investors in an event taking place on the 24th of May.
The opportunity is an exceptional one for both the participants and the investors because, together, they could market a series of interesting, maybe even groundbreaking products. For example, the prototypes awaiting development include a wireless phone charger, an augmented reality platform designed to optimize store sales, or a device for capable of detecting schizophrenia at a very early stage.
Of course, on paper this all sounds nice, but in practice there is no actual certainty that the products will be reliable, innovative or even successful for that matter, but then again the quality of an entrepreneur lies in his or her ability to see the potential of a product or of an idea before it becomes material and before it is recognized by other businessmen.
Sources:
Claudiu Bolcu
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