Dr. Fernando Vilariño elected as the new ENOLL President
Associate CVC Director and UAB Professor has been elected as the new Chairman of the European Network of Living Labs (ENOLL) at the Network’s annual Conference in Geneva.
Dr. Vilariño takes on the lead of a European Network that is working towards inclusive, responsible and Open Science and Innovation. With more than 150 active members around Europe and abroad, the network connects projects which are actively fostering user centric research and innovation. In this way, Living Labs actively involve universities, research centers, industry, public administration and citizens with the aim of solving global challenges in different key areas such as Health, Education, Mobility, Technology and Artificial Intelligence, or culture. Founded in November 2006, the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) was created within the European Union’s Digital Agenda and has become one of its most active communities, as well as the main benchmark in Europe concerning user-centric innovation. Dr. Fernando Vilariño is an ENOLL member with the Library Living Lab project, which he helped develop: a space within the public library in Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona). This project explores how technology transforms people’s cultural experience in an accessible location for citizens. The project has been promoted by several actors: the Computer Vision Center, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sant Cugat’s Town Hall, the Volpelleres neighbourhood Association and Barcelona’s provincial council. Furthermore, it has contributed to the creation of the BiblioLab program, driven by the Provincial Council’s Library Network. Dr. Vilariño reasserted in Geneva the clear vocation of Living Labs in order to work for the completion of the Sustainable Goals promoted by the UN, declaring that “the challenges we are living in our different societies can not be effectively solved by one institution by its own. We need to comprehend how to manage collaboration between all societal actors of knowledge and economic growth, with citizens in the center of processes. Living labs are tools of democratization of the access to innovation and knowledge”. Related articles: