Is farming technology innovation locus-dependent? Making of an agricultural FabLab
Résumé
Innovation has multiple targets – products, production processes, marketing, stakeholders’ organizations, etc. – whose nature depends upon the socio-technical framework that orients the match between inventions and market. Amid the wealth of options to facilitate innovation, fablabs are a specific example of the digitalisation era. Originally, a fablab is “the educational outreach component of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms” whose identity is defined by a charter that connects local labs to the global network. Fablabs’ goal is to provide a stimulus for local entrepreneurship as well as for learning and innovation by providing access to tools for digital fabrication. This paper aims at understanding the role of fablabs and other third places in the specific context of farming technology innovation. To this end, we propose a genetic-like analysis (i.e. genotype x environment x management practices), by addressing the historical identity and traits of FTI actors, the description of the main characteristics and dynamics of the place where they are based and the innovation governance put in practice to enhance their interactions. The approach was applied at two levels: first, the main actors of the farming technology innovation in Europe, ending with a bibliometric analysis of the available literature about fablabs, makerspaces and living labs, with a focus on agriculture. Then, a case study from northern France to describe the making of AgriLab, a fablab dedicated to open innovation towards sustainable agriculture, spanning from equipment to digital tools. AgriLab is based in Beauvais (Hauts-de-France region), together with several other local and international actors of farming technology innovation. In conclusion, we question the role of third places and AgriLab as catalysts for the emergence of relevant farming technology innovations considering the influence from the local and wider context.
