Grow Your Ideas with Fieldays Innovations
Over the last few years, Locus Research has become an integral part of Fieldays Innovations, to give both participants of the Innovation Centre and visitors to Fieldays the opportunity to discuss and develop their ground-breaking ideas.
We’ve found it increasingly important to foster innovation in the agritech sector and have had some excellent outcomes from our participation. To facilitate this, we’ve developed the Lab as a feature space within the Innovation Centre, open to all who would like to learn about and discuss innovation.
About The Lab
The Lab is a hub for supporting, mentoring and debriefing Innovations Awards entrants, separate from the general buzz of the Innovations Centre. Here, entrants can get tips in preparation for their Capital Event pitch, or get advice on different aspects of their project, including design and market entry.
Held within the Innovations Centre, The Lab is fitted with whiteboards, seating and a coffee cart nearby — the perfect place for entrants to access a free innovation knowledge bank. We also encourage visitors to the Innovation Centre to come along to The Lab, stop by for a chat and discuss their ideas with the Lab team.
How we can help
The Lab team can chat with you about the roadblocks you’ve faced in developing your idea or taking it to market. In 2015 alone, we held 16 sessions with different companies from the rural innovators to the big guys. Since then, we’ve restructured the way the Lab works, expanded to the middle of the Innovation Centre and brought on a team of business experts to help us address a range of topics, from IP, finance, and commercialisation, to government funding and angel investment, and of course, product development.
As a company, Locus Research has spent the past 15 or so years on a product development and innovation journey that has covered everything from sleep systems to haircare to agritech. Our cross-functional design team uses research to deliver insights, develop products, and improve the outcomes of innovation in business. Whether you’ve been tinkering with your project in the garage or developing ideas within a large company, if you have come across a stumbling block in your innovation journey, The Lab is the perfect place for you to stop in.
Find out more about The Lab from our Case Study, see 2017’s Lab Innovation Superstars and follow the action on the Fieldays Tumblr feed. We’ve even put together a Fieldays how-to guide for your agri-adventures at Mystery Creek.
Fieldays Innovations Awards
The Fieldays Innovation Awards seek to celebrate and support New Zealand’s most innovative agricultural inventions that will lead change in the rural sector. Applicants in the awards get a stand in the Fieldays Innovations Centre to showcase the best industry developments and inventions; improving farming practices in New Zealand and beyond.
The competition helps establish each entrant’s success in the marketplace by educating entrants on how to take the next step towards achieving commercial success. With a range of categories in which to enter and a competition structure that supports Kiwi ingenuity at all levels, Fieldays Innovation Centre is the perfect place to launch your new innovations.
The Fieldays Innovation Centre Categories and Awards are as follows
- Fieldays Prototype Innovation of the year with awards for both Grassroots and Established Innovation of the Year.
- Fieldays Launch NZ Innovation of the Year
- Fieldays International Innovation of the Year
Entrants to these categories are also eligible for:
- Fieldays Young Inventor Award
- Vodafone Innovation in Technology Award of the Year
- Callaghan Innovation Partnership & Collaboration Award
- Locus Research Innovation Award
- The Crowe Horwath Agri Innovation Award
- The Tompkins Wake IP and Commercialisation Award
- Origin Intellectual Property Award
Get more information about each of these categories and enter your idea here.
Let us help you
The aim of the Lab is to help local innovators accelerate the agri-innovation path, from grassroots to viable businesses. Check out these Innovations winners from 2017, as well as projects we’ve picked up via Fieldays, including Ubco Bikes and Kelvin the Thermokennel. We’re proud to be a part of this growth and excited to see what each year’s Fieldays brings.
If you’d like more information about how you can develop and grow your innovation, please contact Daniel Faris.
Want to read more on creativity, design, product development and innovation? Go to our Six Lenses Blog.
Comments