Driving Innovation: Key Takeaways from the EVOLVE2CARE Exploitation Workshop

The journey from a research project to real-world impact requires a clear map. Recently, the EVOLVE2CARE team gathered for an intensive internal workshop to define that very map. The goal was simple but ambitious: to identify the project’s Key Exploitable Results (KERs) and establish a robust sustainability strategy to ensure our innovations thrive long after the project concludes.

This session marked a pivotal shift from development to delivery, focusing on how our outputs, ranging from digital platforms to policy frameworks, will serve the Health Tech Ecosystem in the years to come.

Mapping the Path: Four Key Exploitable Results

Through a participatory analysis, the team identified four core KERs. These elements are not just standalone products. The EVOLVE2CARE KERs form a complementary pathway from innovation to scaling.

  • AccelUP Market Platform: Our most technical asset, this digital platform serves as the central hub connecting innovators with Living Labs. It is the primary engine for commercialization and long-term sustainability.
  • KPI Framework for Health Tech Evaluation: A structured methodology designed to measure the real-world impact of health tech solutions, providing the evidence-based validation that investors and healthcare providers demand.
  • Training and Capacity Building Program: A training program that equips Living Labs with essential skills in service design and experimentation, currently hosted via the ENoLL Academy.
  • Living Lab Experimentation and Validation Framework: A unified methodology for designing and implementing health tech experiments, ensuring scalability and replication across different healthcare environments.

Strategizing for Sustainability: Commercial vs. Open Access

A major focus of the workshop was classifying these results into Tiers to determine their commercialisation nature. We categorized them based on their primary value:

Tier 1: Commercial Excellence

The AccelUP Platform remains the core commercial asset. Future efforts will focus on dedicated workshops to refine its business model, ensuring it becomes a self-sustaining marketplace for health tech stakeholders.

Tier 2: Non-Commercial & Cross-Cutting Impact

For results like the KPI Framework and the Training Program, the team reached a consensus: Open Access is key. Additionally, it was agreed that the Training Program will remain free of charge to maximize reach among researchers, innovators, and policymakers.

Building for the Future

Sustainability is only possible if the work remains relevant. During the session, partners discussed the importance of keeping training materials “living” by exploring ways to expand content rather than just maintaining it. We also committed to a dissemination strategy that moves beyond traditional repositories like Zenodo to engage directly with scientific communities and European decision-makers.

What’s Next?

The work does not stop here. The team is currently refining the exploitation strategy and formalising the sustainability models, with the aim of presenting the Key Exploitable Results of EVOLVE2CARE in the near future.

By standardizing how we measure impact and build capacity, EVOLVE2CARE is setting a new benchmark for how Health Tech Innovation can be validated and scaled across Europe.

Stay tuned as we move into the final stages of the project, bringing these tools to the wider health tech community!

Training Living Labs for Real-World HealthTech Innovation 

The EVOLVE2CARE project has successfully reached a major milestone in its mission to standardize and enhance HealthTech experimentation across Europe. By focusing on transitional care, specifically hospital discharge management, home care monitoring, and aging populations, the project has worked to bridge the gap between laboratory research and market-ready healthcare solutions. To achieve this, the consortium has designed and delivered a specialized training program that has already transformed how Living Labs support innovators.

A Journey Through Service Design and Operational Excellence 

The Training Program on Service Design for Living Labs was implemented by the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) as a series of six intensive online modules. These sessions took place between June 25 and September 24, 2025, providing a structured learning pathway for managers, researchers, and policymakers.

The curriculum was meticulously crafted to address the real-world complexities of the healthcare sector:

  • Foundational Concepts: Module 1 situated Living Labs within the broader innovation landscape, tracing their evolution from the Triple Helix model to the Quadruple Helix, which integrates civil society alongside government, academia, and industry.
  • Service Design Mastery: In Module 2, participants explored a five-step process—Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver, and Evolve—to turn abstract activities into repeatable, high-value services.
  • Legal and Ethical Guardrails: Module 3 navigated the critical requirements of GDPR, informed consent, and intellectual property management, ensuring that Labs can handle sensitive medical data responsibly.
  • Engagement and Impact: The final modules focused on building robust innovation networks and using Key Impact Indicators (KIIs) to measure the performance and societal value of pilot projects.

Tangible Tools and Proven Success 

The program has not just provided theory; it has equipped participants with actionable resources. Participants have received the Living Lab Service Blueprint to map customer journeys and a specialized Ethics Checklist to guide projects from design to exploitation. 

The impact of these efforts has been immediate and measurable: 

  • Broad Reach: A total of 116 unique participants attended the live sessions.
  • Immediate Application: 42.9% of participants have reported that they are already actively offering services or collaborating with innovators.
  • Future Readiness: An additional 28.6% have stated they are prepared to launch services within the next three to six months.

Sustainability: Now Available at the ENoLL Academy

While the live sessions have concluded, the knowledge generated continues to serve the community. On October 25, 2025, the entire training series was uploaded to the ENoLL Living Labs Academy.

This transition to an asynchronous format has already proven successful, with 37 new participants currently following the course online. By hosting these materials publicly, EVOLVE2CARE has ensured that its capacity-building efforts will remain accessible until the end of the project in October 2026 and beyond, fostering long-term strategic growth in the HealthTech ecosystem.

For a deep dive into the methodology and results of the EVOLVE2CARE Trainings, readers can explore the full D2.3 Deliverable available at the project’s Zenodo community.

EVOLVE2CARE has demonstrated that when Living Labs are empowered with the right tools, they can effectively translate experimentation into sustainable impact for patients and providers alike.

How can your organization leverage these newly available Service Design tools to accelerate your own HealthTech innovations?