IBX to relocate, expand innovation studio

At 31,000 square feet, the Independence Center for Innovation will relocate to a new space roughly six times bigger than its previous 5,000-square-foot digs at 17th and Market, Independence Blue Cross announced on Wednesday.

The space, expected to open at 1901 Market St. during the first half of 2019, will serve as a meeting point for company specialists working on technology solutions in the healthcare space.

“Our focus on innovation will continue,” said Dan Hilferty, president and CEO of Independence Health Group, parent company to IBX. “We’ll use this space to understand how we can improve what we do for our customers. We’ll bring in specialists and are open to working with any entity that wants to work with us.”

Dan Hilferty, CEO of Independence Health Group, on upcoming expansion of IBX Innovation Center

"We are open to working with any entity that wants to work with us." pic.twitter.com/yMt07lLsUY

— Technical.ly Philly (@TechnicallyPHL) May 23, 2018

All told, the main IBX campus in Philly now occupies over 1 million square feet of space, including a new customer service call center across the street at 1900 Market, and customer experience center Independence LIVE, opened in 2016.

“This is where we will connect to a national network of innovators, pilot new ideas, and change the landscape of healthcare with initiatives like the Independence-Comcast collaboration announced last month,” Hilferty said.

The revamped space joins a group of Philly studios or centers where corporations focus on research and development.

Vanguard opened an innovation studio last fall, as did Comcast in 2013 to focus on accessibility. The City of Philadelphia also opened an innovation lab in 2014, designed to let its employees meet and collaborate. For a while there, Microsoft also had a Reactor, until it shuttered last summer.