Embedding business model for sustainable collaborative innovation in African Living Labs

The researchers tried to address the issue of Economic Sustainability and Business Model research in the collaborative configuration of African Living Labs. The authors evaluated 29 scientific articles. The results suggests: a lack of research on Living Lab sustainability; recommendations were mainly drawn from Sekhukhune Living Lab and only partial recommendations for Sustainability were available. The development factors of the initial Business Model were drawn from diverse Living Lab applications and implementation; lessons learnt from reviewed articles; and usage of Business Model concepts. The initial Business Model concept has three categories: People, Living Lab and Things. It can be useful to interested parties wanting to pursue Sustainable Living Labs or Collaborative projects. Finally, due to the multi-stakeholder nature and Societies role in a Living Lab, we recommend that Economic Sustainability might be achieved by positioning Living Labs as a collaborative organization, Social Innovation agent and a Social Business.