WP 7 - Exploitation and Business Ecosystems

The following toolkit was developed on the basis of recommendations outlined in D7.13 (‘How to Implement a Startup Competition’), as well as in response to challenges and learnings from recent startup competitions hosted in Leipzig, Germany, and Espoo, Finland, outlined in D7.4 (‘Smart City Challenge Report and Lessons Learned’).

As mentioned in D7.4, (Lighthouses Cities Start up Smart City Challenges and Lessons learnt” ) establishing ‘necessary timeframes, schedules, and programmes to avoid unexpected or unrehearsed situations’ is of utmost importance in planning such competitions. Defining an entire workplan in advance allows for foresee challenges and ensure that stakeholders such as juries and mentors dedicate sufficient amount of time to take part.

This toolkit also takes into account other findings discussed in D7.4, such as the question of whether to assign specific weights to different criteria. As per the criteria table in section 3.4, the decision has been left up to organisers. ‘It is … necessary’, write the authors of D7.4, ‘in the hands of possible future replications to decide as to whether equally weighted criteria or criteria with different coefficients create a more adequate assessment template. This decision is in the hand of future implementors of such start-up city challenges.’ In other words, competition organisers should adapt their approach based on the individual characteristics of the competition.