Each year, Fieldays Innovation Awards gives their finalists an exhibition space in the Innovation Centre. In 2014, we set up a purpose built structure and branded it The Lab. It served as a hub for mentoring and debriefing for entrants, separate from the general buzz of the Innovations Centre. And to make sure the team stood out from the crowd we outfitted everyone in lab coats, complete with thick-rimmed glasses and ball point pens.

Here, entrants could get tips in preparation for their Dragon’s Den pitch, or get advice on different aspects of their project, including design and market entry. The Lab is also a space where visitors to the Innovation Centre can share and work on their ideas. We hosted workshops with interested businesses, such as customer empathy sessions with LIC. Some one-on-one sessions with Innovation Awards finalists even led to development projects at the studio, like Kelvin the Thermokennel.

On the outside, we used enquiry forms to collect insights about problems on the farm, sparking conversations about innovation

with the general public. To accompany this, we created a resource, titled How Innovation Works. This is available below for anyone interested in how customer research can fuel innovation by generating insights.

Further showcasing innovation, in 2015 we developed the Innovations Accelerator, featured here. The relationship with Fieldays also extended to judging and sponsoring an Award. Winner of the 2014 Locus Research Innovation Award Ubco featured in 2015 in the Accelerator; the 2015 winner was Siegfried Bachler and his SigStep.

We look forward to continuing to foster innovation at the Fieldays.