10725: Mission Possible: Experimental Infrastructures for Innovation Ecosystems

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

08:30 - 10:00 CEST (GMT+2)

Location: Bella Center: Auditorium 11

Session Type: Symposium (panel)
Orientation: Practice,International,Research,Diversity
Highlight: Showcase Symposium
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/JQ9PMk

Host(s)

OV

Orlando Martin Vazquez Villegas

Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands

Moderator(s)

MB

Marcel Bogers

Eindhoven U. of Technology, Netherlands

Discussant(s)

HB

Hans Berends

Vrije U. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Organizer(s)

AA

Attabik Awan

Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
LV

Luca Vadacca

University of Twente, Netherlands

Panelist(s)

CB

Carliss Baldwin

Harvard Business School, United States
SO

Susanne Ollila

Chalmers U. of Technology, Sweden
JW

Jennifer Woolley

Santa Clara U., United States

Participant(s)

LV

Leentje Volker

University of Twente, Netherlands
HA

Henk Akkermans

Tilburg U., Netherlands
JB

Jaime Bonnin Roca

-, Netherlands
AA

Andreas Alexiou

Tilburg University, Netherlands
Mv

Marc van den Berg

University of Twente, Netherlands

This panel symposium explores the role of innovation ecosystems in addressing grand challenges, such as climate change, which require collaboration among diverse actors including businesses, universities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The focus is on Experimental Infrastructures (EIs) such as testbeds, living labs, and pilot plants, which serve as dynamic spaces for co-creating, testing, and refining mission-driven innovations. EIs foster open innovation, lower risks and costs, facilitate the adaptation of institutions and technologies, and support the scaling of innovations. However, coordinating diverse ecosystem actors with differing priorities and levels of understanding remains a significant challenge. The symposium will integrate insights from organizational studies, innovation management, and ecosystem research to discuss how EIs support value creation, how best to organize and manage them, and identify key research gaps to advance the study of EIs and their potential to address grand challenges.