The Lab Is Dead, Long Live the Lab! 10 Years of LabGob and What’s Next

Ten years ago, LabGob began as an experiment in bringing public design and collaborative innovation into government in Chile. A decade later, it hasn’t just survived—it’s helped shape a generation of public sector innovation across Latin America. What has it taught us, and what’s next? 

This keynote reflects on LabGob’s contributions and limitations in the evolution of public innovation. The fragility of democratic institutions persists, and the need for innovation is urgent. Grounded in public design and systems thinking, this talk asks what kinds of responses governments must craft—and how labs must evolve. Innovation labs must move from the periphery to the core of democratic infrastructure. Public design redefines how governments see problems, craft responses, and build legitimacy through lived experience. The lab, as we knew it, may be dead—but its next iteration is already emerging.