Business
Launch of the Nouaceur Territorial Innovation Lab
Initiated by the Casablanca-Settat City of Trades and Skills, in partnership with OTED (Territorial Empowerment and Development), this innovation lab’s mission is to mobilize collective intelligence to co-create solutions adapted to local challenges in economic, social, and environmental development.
As part of opening up to its economic and social environment to contribute to its promotion and development, the Casablanca-Settat City of Trades and Skills (CMC-CS), in partnership with OTED, announces the launch of the Nouaceur Territorial Innovation Lab (NOTIL), a territorial innovation lab aiming to transform local development through collective intelligence and collaborative innovation.
NOTIL is part of a territorial co-construction dynamic involving a variety of actors: businesses, local authorities, associations, cooperatives, trainees, and trainers from CMC-CS. The lab’s mission is to mobilize collective intelligence to co-create solutions tailored to local challenges in economic, social, and environmental development, according to a statement.
NOTIL’s participatory approach rests on four pillars: collective intelligence (mobilizing stakeholders to co-design innovative projects addressing territorial issues); co-construction and participation (actively involving local actors in defining and implementing projects); innovation and experimentation (testing concrete solutions on the ground to measure their impact and adapt them); and finally sustainability and social impact (ensuring inclusive and sustainable development rooted in local realities).
Benefits for each stakeholder
NOTIL promises to generate benefits for all stakeholders. The lab will allow local businesses to access innovative solutions, enhance their competitiveness, and foster skills sponsorship opportunities. For local authorities, the lab’s benefits include accelerating structuring projects, improving participatory governance, and optimizing resources. Trainees at CMC-CS will gain technical and transversal skills development, immersion in real projects, and improved employability. Finally, local communities will see improved quality of life, increased citizen involvement in local decisions, and co-construction of adapted solutions.
“NOTIL invites businesses, associations, and experts to join this territorial dynamic by participating in co-construction workshops, sharing their local challenges, and actively contributing to the development of innovative projects,” the statement concludes.
For reference, CMC-CS comprises 9 trade centers, 111 training sectors, a capacity to host over 4,800 trainees, and a dormitory with 700 beds. Far from being just a training space, CMC-CS is a true social and economic innovation lab, integrating innovative facilities: an incubator, a digital factory, a FabLab, co-working spaces, a Career Guidance Center, a media library, and a center for languages and soft skills.
