The Value of Concept Maturity Levels in Healthcare: Shifting Toward More Agile, Inclusive and Responsible Ecosystems

This chapter examines a maturity model developed at the initiative of French medtech ecosystem actors, called concept maturity levels (CML), which aims to establish “a more inclusive, transparent, and structured process for collaborative innovation in the French medtech ecosystem, in order to promote emergence of desirable, accessible, and viable solutions”. It draws on interim work from research project aimed at assessing the impact of this initiative. The chapter presents the CML model and its application in healthcare sector. It introduces the concepts of innovation ecosystems and alignment between various actors, also known as orchestration. CML target four main types of actors: project leaders, funders, companies and facilitators. In doing so, they aim to transform practices in design, project support and the orchestration of healthcare innovation ecosystems. By emphasizing usage and ethical issues throughout the maturation of projects, the chapter shows how CML provide meaning to new approaches that use design for social innovation in healthcare.