Lessons from Innovation Boulevard: A case study of a regional innovation ecosystem to support the

development of technologies in health & aging

Presentation to CAG 2016

Josephine McMurray, PhD, Heather McNeil, PhD (Cand.),

Andrew Sixsmith, PhD, Paul Stolee, PhD,

Heidi Sveistrup, PhD

Acknowledgements• AGE-WELL is a federally funded Network of Centres of

Excellence accelerating innovation and technologies to improve aging

• We are grateful for the generosity of the case study participants

• The DRiVE (Developing Regional health InnoVation Ecosystems) Project is an AGE-WELL funded research study that explores how health and age technology innovation can be facilitated through regional partnership

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Our program of research• Systematic literature review of regional innovation

systems/ecosystems• Development of a RHIE conceptual and theoretic model• Case studies of 5 health innovation entities• Taxonomy of innovation entities• Theory of action model to guide the development of

RHIE’s • Developmental evaluation, performance measurement

best practices

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Global inventory of health innovation entities

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BACKGROUND

What is Innovation Boulevard?• Regional health innovation ecosystem

located in Surrey, B.C.• Established in 2013 - address regional

economic and social challenges • City-led initiative with Simon Fraser

University, Fraser Valley Health Authority

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METHODS

Case Study Method

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• Semi-structured interviews (n=36) with stakeholders • May, 2015 to May,

2016, (Fig.1).

• Relevant institutional archival documentation (n=69) and verbatim transcripts of interviews were analyzed using NVIVO-11©.

Theoretical lens

• Quadruple Innovation Helix (Arnkin, 2010; Carayannis & Rakhmatullin, 2014)

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• Collaboration Theory (Grey, 1985) to examine the iterative process of problem solving (problem setting, direction setting and structuring) that defines a successful collaboration (Fig.2) Fig 2. Collaborative Analytic Model –

Iterative problem-solving

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RESULTS

Collaboration Life-Cycle

• IB appears to be following the classic stages of a collaboration life-cycle

• Useful guide for future action

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Fig 3. The Collaboration Life-Cycle (Williams, Merriman &

Morris, 2016)

Issue PhaseIdentify an issue to solve & recognize need for multi-stakeholder involvement

“It wasn't about innovation, it was about bringing people together. It was about the collaboration of different groups and different types of people. We initially embarked upon the health sector.” - Government

“I mean 95 languages are spoken. We've got the largest population per capita of kids under the age of 19. We're from 1,000 to 1,200 people moving into the city each and every month. There's a lot of things going on there.” - Government

“Your ability to deliver quality services improves dramatically with the introduction of teaching, training, and research into the fabric of your organization.” - Health System

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Assembly & Structure PhaseGrowth, building a network & adding resources, defining goals, defining roles, & coordinating work

“So the main committee has a number of subcommittees, and those subcommittees, uh, I would say there are, there are 3 to do with, um, kind of, uh, uh, domains within health, and then there's a bunch of others.” - Industry

“We knew that we had a faculty of health and that we do a lot of experiential learning. She said, "Why don't we sit down, take a look at whether this might be a good fit or not?” - University

[In an}]ideal world if we are …successful, at one point it will be financially independent. Basically, that whatever Innovation Boulevard brings in from government or private sources, or whatever; it's paying for the operation.

- University13

Productivity PhaseOptimal resources to carry out primary focus. Key functions: Communication, Learning, Decision-making, and Managing Stability

“It certainly helps the recruitment and retention young often young people not just clinical people but, you know, a- academics from every walk of life ‘.” - Health System

“That's their slogan, the engaged university, and they are, we interact with SFU on a daily basis that creates constant cross pollination between the city and SFU on a number of...”

- Government

“We get exposure to a very wide range of key stakeholders in healthcare outside of the hospital environment…it gives us additional insight into what might be coming, in terms of healthcare changes in policy, more of an insight into community healthcare.” - Industry

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Conclusions• Collaboration Theory is an appropriate lens to

retrospectively & prospectively analyse IB’s evolution• Success at this stage defined by ability to communicate,

make decisions collectively, work through differences and resolve conflicts in the context of the shared vision.

• Threats to stability going forward - rapid growth, inability to manage change, available human and financial resources

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• Josephine McMurray, PhD• Assistant Professor, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics• Wilfrid Laurier University• jmcmurray@wlu.ca• +01.1.519.242.7477• @AgeWell_DRiVE• www.drive-health-ecosystems.com

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