We received a question over on our Facebook page about the Digital Sandbox, and I thought I'd take a moment and pull that over here onto the ol' blog.
So the question: “What incubator model will the Digital Sandbox follow?”
The short answer, none.
The Digital Sandbox is not an incubator, or an accelerator. It’s meant to fill the gap before that. By definition, it’s a proof of concept center, the place where researchers or entrepreneurs can turn ideas into prototypes, where they work to prove it could have value in the market.
The idea is that what you’d build in the Sandbox would then, if worthy, move into the greater network of KCSourceLink partners—into an incubator or accelerator or an organization like PIPELINE. So the Digital Sandbox doesn’t aim to compete with those services at all. It’s meant to come before those services, to provide those dreamers of dreams with the resources, mentors, and tools they need to see if their idea could live in the market.
Now, the ideas that make it to the Digital Sandbox could come from a researcher or an entrepreneur (or both). But they don’t have to travel with a person who’s ready to transform the idea into a business and run the business. In addition to incubators and accelerators, we would also have services to help researchers find folks who could run the business that is born out of the idea.