Q: What will happen if we win?
Q: How is confidentiality handled?
Q: When will I know how our showcase was evaluated?
Q: Will you publish the evaluation of the showcases?
Q: Do Showcase Submissions have to be existing solutions or can they be designs for new solutions?
Q: Can we submit for more than one Category?
Q: How do I submit for a specific Category?
Q: Where will the Award Ceremony take place?
Q: Why will you edit our Showcase before it goes live?
Q: The deadline is 1st of December 2009 – is that for our submission or your editing?
Q: Can we refine a Showcase after it has been submitted?
Q: How does the Showcase Award relate to Living Labs Global Membership Activities?
Q: Do I have to become a member to participate in the Awards Competition?
Q: Does it cost money to publish a Showcase?
Q: Does it cost money to participate in the Showcase Award?
Q: Is the jury the same for each award category?
Q: Who participates in the Category Jury Panel?
Q: How were category challenges assigned to specific cities?
Q: How does the evaluation and jury process work?
Q: Who are the Judges?
Q: When will the Evaluation Process begin?
Q: Can my company get involved in the Award as a Sponsor?
Q: Will there be press coverage about the Award and its winners?

Q: What will happen if we win?

If you get Shortlisted on December 15th you will be invited to submit multimedia content to complement your Showcase by January 31st 2010. On February 14th, you will be invited to the Award Ceremony, at which the winners will be announced.

As a winner, from that point onwards, you will work with the Award Category Partner to review the best way to pilot your solution in their city. Given that the Award Categories and Showcases submitted are very different in scale, complexity and type, a custom process will be developed to pilot and evaluate your solution.
Back to top

Q: How is confidentiality handled?

In the first stage, if you have submitted your Showcase and it has passed our internal review, it will be published immediately – usually around 48-72 hours after submission. This means that your Showcase will be visible to the public before the deadline on the December 1st 2009, like all other Showcases. You should, at this stage not provide any confidential information.

In the second stage, if your Showcase gets short-listed on December 15th 2009, your multimedia submission will be held confidential among the Jury members until the Award Ceremony on February 14th 2010. Shortlisted submissions will be presented during the Award Ceremony, Finally, after the Award is announced, your submission will be made publicly available.
Back to top

Q: When will I know how our showcase was evaluated?

You will receive notification whether your Showcase was shortlisted on December 15th 2009, and you can request the evaluation results after the Award Ceremony on February 14th 2010. This will include a list of jurors that have reviewed your Showcase and their rating against relevant Award Categories.
Back to top

Q: Will you publish the evaluation of the showcases?

No. We will provide the evaluation results to the owners of Showcases on demand, after February 14th 2010.
Back to top

Q: Do Showcase Submissions have to be existing solutions or can they be designs for new solutions?

The Living Labs Global Showcase is dedicated to solutions existing at the time of submission. Why is that? Because we see a lot of re-invention of solutions across cities around the world for a lack of knowledge about what has been done before. For example, there are dozens of very similar tourism solutions, but those that invented them all think they were first. So our focus at this stage is to show what is out there, and give those that have invented a solution international opportunities to present themselves.

When we evaluate a Showcase, we weigh this point carefully. For example, ‘existing’ does not necessarily mean that a solution is in full commercial service, but ‘existing’ can be a solution in a pre-commercial stage that exists as a prototype, a pilot or is ready for piloting without need of major further development at the time of evaluation / submission.
Back to top

Q: Can we submit for more than one Category?

All Showcases submitted and accepted before December 1st 2009 will automatically participate in all Award Categories. Living Labs Global will support the Juries for each Award Category in doing the very basic pre-selection, so it is unlikely that any Showcase will be relevant to all Award Categories. If we are I doubt about relevance, we will pass the Showcase on to the Award Category for review rather than take such decisions.

The purpose of such a flexible and open model is that we want to open opportunities for your Showcase, which is a very compact description of your solution. We think that exposure of your Showcase should be maximized within reasonable interest, and therefore be made available to as many Award Categories as possible.

Your evaluation report will indicate which Award Category Juries have reviewed your Showcase.
Back to top

Q: How do I submit for a specific Category?

You cannot submit for a specific Award Category, but if you would like to focus your Showcase you may argue its relevance in particular to the type of challenge set by your favoured Award Category.
Back to top

Q: Where will the Award Ceremony take place?

This will be announced at the latest on December 15th
Back to top

Q: Why will you edit our Showcase before it goes live?

Over the years we have worked with all the Actors involved in a Showcase: the engineers, the users, the government agencies, content providers, international partners, etc. Our role in editing the Showcase is to a) verify that it actually exists, b) assure that it is not full of generic marketing claims like “the best” or “the world leading”, and c) to assure that it is written in easy to understand and professional English, readable for a wide range of target groups.

Our aim is not to distort the content, but to help you make your argument clear.
Back to top

Q: The deadline is 1st of December 2009 – is that for our submission or your editing?

Your submission should be received by December 1st 2009 through the online submission process. Our editing process may take 48-72 hours after that and if your Showcase is accepted it will go live then. The Juries will start work on evaluation only after all Showcases submitted by the 1st of December 2009 have been processed.
Back to top

Q: Can we refine a Showcase after it has been submitted?

Yes. You can either login to your account if your Showcase has not yet gone live, or you can email showcase@livinglabs-global.com with a request to update a live Showcase.
Back to top

Q: How does the Showcase Award relate to Living Labs Global Membership Activities?

The Showcase Award is an integral part of our Association’s activities. Our goal is to create opportunities for innovative Showcase in international cities.

All Showcases accepted and published by Living Labs Global receive a free Showcase Membership in the Association, governed by the Terms of Membership.
Back to top

Q: Do I have to become a member to participate in the Awards Competition?

If we accept your submitted Showcase and publish it, you will automatically receive a Living Labs Global Showcase Membership at no cost – see Terms of Membership for the terms.

If you do not want to accept the Showcase Membership, which comes with no obligations, you should not submit a Showcase.
Back to top

Q: Does it cost money to publish a Showcase?

No. Showcase submission is free, as is the Living Labs Global Showcase Membership.
Back to top

Q: Does it cost money to participate in the Showcase Award?

No.
Back to top

Q: Is the jury the same for each award category?

No. Each Award Category together with Living Labs Global will nominate its own international Jury, presided by the Award Category Partner. There may be Jury members participating in more than one Award Category, but this is entirely at the discretion of each Award Category.
Back to top

Q: Who participates in the Category Jury Panel?

We will not disclose names of Jurors until after the Award Ceremony, to avoid lobbying by Showcase owners or otherwise. Each Jury will be technically competent to address the evaluation criteria of “Innovation Height”, “Potential Impact” and “Market Potential”. This implies, that Jury members will represent different relevant sectors with expertise in the Award Category Themes.

See also: www.livinglabs-global.com/award-process.asp
Back to top

Q: How were category challenges assigned to specific cities?

Cities applied to Living Labs Global with a proposal of themes for the Award Categories which were jointly developed into the Category Descriptions found on our website. It was important that cities chose themes that they give priority to, and that are sufficiently back to accept and actively support a pilot implementation with the Award Winner.
Back to top

Q: How does the evaluation and jury process work?

Each Award Category will have its own Jury and will evaluate Showcases against the theme of the Award Category. The Category Partner will preside the Jury, providing support on any additional information required about the Category theme.

Jurors will be given online access to all relevant Showcases and will review these online, rating them against the three evaluation criteria of “Innovation Height”, “Potential Impact” and “Market Potential”. Jurors may ask Living Labs Global to investigate specific questions in this process to clarify uncertainties.

The five Showcases with the highest scores will be Shortlisted for each Award Category, and announced on December 15th 2009.

In the second stage, Shortlisted Showcases are invited to submit a multimedia entry to support their Showcase. This will be evaluated again by the Jury against the three criteria, and the Winner and runners-up will be determined by the Jury. The results will be presented on February 14th 2010 at the Award Ceremony.

For more information on the Award Process see: www.livinglabs-global.com/award-process.asp
Back to top

Q: Who are the Judges?

We will not disclose names of Jurors until after the Award Ceremony, to avoid lobbying by Showcase owners or otherwise. Each Jury will be technically competent to address the evaluation criteria of “Innovation Height”, “Potential Impact” and “Market Potential”. This implies, that Jury members will represent different relevant sectors with expertise in the Award Category Themes.

See also: www.livinglabs-global.com/award-process.asp
Back to top

Q: When will the Evaluation Process begin?

The evaluation process will begin once all Showcases submitted by December 1st 2009 have been processed by Living Labs Global. This is likely to be around 3-4 days after the deadline.
Back to top

Q: Can my company get involved in the Award as a Sponsor?

Yes. If you are interested in the Living Labs Global Showcase Award as a sponsorship opportunity please contact media@livinglabs-global.com for information about the available formats.

As a sponsor you will not receive any preference for your Showcase (if you submit any) and the Jury will work under strict instructions to treat all entries equally and declare any conflict of interest.
Back to top

Q: Will there be press coverage about the Award and its winners?

Yes. Since the Award was announced our Communications Partner Sonus PR together with Living Labs Global and the Communications Departments of the Category Partners work to disseminate information about the Award through a variety of Media Channels. Winners will be announced as part of this process, as will be the results of the pilots after the Awards.

If you wish to conduct any PR activities related to the Award, your participation or to promote information in your network or community, please contact media@livinglabs-global.com.
Back to top