Strategically Engaging With Innovation Ecosystems

Where startups, researchers, and investors cluster, opportunities to accelerate corporate innovation abound.

- PHILIP BUDDEN AND FIONA MURRAY

Competitive pressure to innovate is driving companies to seek new ideas well beyond their own walls. But sponsor-ing the occasional hackathon or having one-off, uncoordinated interactions with a startup accelerator won’t contribute much to boosting an organization’s innovation capabilities. Many companies are missing an opportunity that’s close to home by overlooking or failing to effectively tap innovation ecosystems in their regions.

These ecosystems occur where innovation and entrepreneurship activity are highly concentrated. As we define them, ecosystems are places that engage five stakeholder types — research institutions, entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, and governments — linked by a strong social fabric of mutual interest, complementary needs and resources, and trust. (See “Complementary Stakeholders in Innovation Ecosystems,”)

Our research shows that new innovation ecosystems are emerging globally, beyond well-known hubs. While often smaller or more specialized than, say, Silicon Valley, these clusters of activity are expanding the regional opportunities for corporate engagement in new locations. Meanwhile, digital interactions enable wider participation across geographic boundaries.

To achieve their goals for innovation, companies need to take a systematic approach to identifying and securing competitive advantage from working with these innovation communities.