Innovation Lab

Participants in the Innovation Lab at ITCILO
Unleash your creativity with the ITCILO Innovation Lab

A new way to learn, share ideas, and collaborate in the United Nations System

The Innovation Lab takes a person-centred approach to problem-solving and innovating, with emphasis on collaboration and technology. Through this approach, the goal is to help people understand and connect their knowledge with the challenges they face in a new way.

Based on your choice, the Innovation Lab will become the ideal place for organizations looking for an interactive solution that encourages personal growth and critical thinking in participants. It provides an opportunity to foster dialogue between different stakeholders, build capacity through interactive activities, and advance innovative solutions for complex problems.

Three options
Presentations

Invite recognized keynote speakers with exciting ideas on the world of work, and create meaningful discussions.

Collaborations

Organize design thinking workshops, hackathons, and futures foresight workshops with technology playing a key role.

Brainstorms

Host team retreats or meetings and use creative strategies to brainstorm about various challenges.

The Innovation Lab provides three different room layouts, based on the size and objectives of your event. From high-profile speakers that bring you interesting perspectives on the world of work to interactive design thinking workshops, hackathons, and more, there’s a format for every idea.

You can also use technology as a core component of your event. We use creative methods to stimulate creative thinking about a variety of challenges and help you come up with solutions in a short period of time. It’s an ideal way to get your team together for brainstorming sessions or team retreats.

ITCILO Innovation Lab
Innovative configurations for dynamic experiences

Unveiling the power of presentations, collaborations, and brainstorms

This presentation layout offers a unique space for speakers to share their original ideas, as well as for learners to come up with innovative solutions. To increase outreach, these events will be available in hybrid format, accommodating both in person and online participation simultaneously. 

Suggested events:

  • Flagship conferences
  • High-level keynotes
  • Technology-based events

Features:

  • A dedicated stage: The stage is perfect for speakers and facilitators to engage in interactive presentations, discuss new ideas or address collective challenges.
  • The latest technologies: Presentations will be enhanced with the latest technologies, including high-definition cameras, a hologram box, and an interactive LED screen.
  • Comfortable lounge areas: Relaxed seating areas provide the perfect place to allow participants to reflect and recharge.

The second configuration, Collaborations, is geared towards changemakers looking to create solutions through collaborative workshops. Our facility provides everything you need to host a successful design thinking workshop or hackathon, such as digital recording devices, virtual reality headsets, virtual whiteboards, and other immersive technologies. With these tools, participants can share their ideas in a dynamic and engaging manner.

Suggested events:

  • Design thinking workshops
  • Hackathons
  • Futures foresight workshops
  • Strategy labs

Features:

  • Collaboration tools and tips: Using the latest learning and training methodologies, small groups will interact, collaborate, and co-create in a space designed just for them. 
  • Concrete outputs: While the types of these activities may vary widely, each will result in a specific product, such as a toolkit or a publication, or a service, like a strategy or policy recommendation. 
  • Discussion tables: Furniture designed for both discussion and creativity – ideal for hosting collaborative activities.

Our third configuration, Brainstorms, includes a variety of creative methods to spark new ideas, including problem-solving techniques like lateral thinking and mind mapping, team-building activities, ideation tools such as gamification and storytelling, and much more. If you’re looking for an original way to brainstorm and tackle a challenge with your team, this is the format for you.

Suggested events:

  • Brainstorming sessions
  • Team retreats
  • Art exhibitions

Features:

  • A relaxed atmosphere: The Innovation Lab represents an opportunity to spend time away from your normal working environment for the purpose of reflection and learning. 
  • Brainstorming-based technologies: You can use virtual reality technology to create immersive team-building experiences, or use gamification techniques to encourage people to work together to complete tasks.
  • Space for the whole team: You can invite multiple teams/departments to trigger new ways of thinking about various challenges by stimulating cross-functional team work.
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Considerations for a successful event

How to decide on the details, from the latest technology to subject matter experts

Choose the right layout

The first step is to decide which of the three main configurations will best suit your needs, based on the size and objectives of your event. The Presentations option is ideal if you have prominent keynote speakers with original ideas on the world of work and want to spark rich discussions among changemakers. The Collaboration option is perfect for organizing design thinking workshops, hackathons and futures foresight workshops with technology as a core component. And lastly, the Brainstorm configuration provides an ideal setting for team retreats or meetings with creative methods to trigger new ways of thinking about various challenges.

Get creative

Once you have chosen a layout, it’s time to get creative by exploring all of the space’s options. Make use of interactive technologies, simulations and gaming tools to motivate learners and help them engage with difficult concepts more effectively. You can also create thoughtful programming that engages all different types of learners and sparks fruitful conversations within your group.

Utilize experts

​​​​​The Innovation Lab provides on-site experts who are knowledgeable about all aspects of learning design and facilitation - from advocating for best practices in technology-enhanced learning to helping participants get comfortable working collaboratively in virtual environments. Utilizing these experts will help ensure success for any program hosted at the lab.

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Immersive and innovative features

Step into the future with our holobox, XR wall, and cutting-edge AV technology

The audiovisual (AV) team sets up the required equipment to deliver the best audience experience possible. The Innovation Lab contains a dedicated room for the AV team, which also serves as the space for virtual reality (VR) experiences. This space is basically a technology studio, a control booth for the various elements of webinars and hybrid event production.

The holobox creates a realistic life-sized projection of a person, virtually transporting them to the Innovation Lab. These projections, which may be live or recorded, provide new opportunities for keynote speeches and presentations. Recorded content may be prepared and perfected, and then reused as many times as necessary.

Extended reality (XR) refers to the innovative interaction of the real world with the virtual world. The wall in the Innovation Lab combines a LED display with XR technology to bring virtual production, shooting, and broadcasting to the next level. It uses cameras to sense movement and allows the speaker to virtually enter the digital world on the screen behind them. Think of it like the new, interactive green screen.

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Unleash your creativity

With the ITCILO Innovation Lab, learning and innovation converge to create a powerful space for making an impact. Whether you need an opportunity for inspiration from thought-leaders, an immersive collaboration experience, or an ideation solution for a team challenge, the Lab has you covered. Its three main configurations allow you to move beyond the traditional learning environment and explore your own ideas and solutions while making use of cutting-edge design methods and technology

Stories

Positive, solutions-oriented narratives in the world of learning and training

Topics

Subject-specific areas of expertise, guiding our work