This cluster will consist of a joint ULB-VUB incubator, a specific structure for hosting and coaching young student entrepreneurs and a joint ULB-VUB FabLab.
Incubator
As the finishing touch in the creation of a unique environment combining research, dissemination of academic knowledge and economic activities, an incubator will be set up within the Usquare site.
It will specialise in web-based professions – those that use the web at the heart of their business or whose model is based on the use of digital technologies.
The incubator will be a multidisciplinary site whose purpose is to ensure the success of business activities and models through the complementary profiles of the teams that will come together there, combining artistic, technical, creative, entrepreneurial and other strengths.
Start.VUB and ULB's Start.LAB, the incubators for projects run by VUB’s and ULB’s student entrepreneurs, will also join this new incubator, which will be open to all student entrepreneurs in the Brussels Region.
FabLab
Finally, in order to create an environment of innovation and strong creativity, the cluster will also include a joint ULB-VUB FabLab.
Originating from a popular MIT course entitled ‘How to Make Almost Anything’, FabLabs (short for ‘Fabrication Laboratory’) form a global network of local ‘open source’ workshops representing part of a new industrial revolution.
The idea is to provide easy access for as many people as possible to a series of digital production devices that can be used to carry out projects, including 3D printers, laser cutters and CNC routers.
The FabLab will be closely linked to research and teaching activities at ULB and VUB.