The Organizational Edge of Innovation Ecosystems: Leadership Survey
The Organizational Edge of Innovation Ecosystems: Leadership Survey
City, university, startup, or business community: your fortunes are inextricably linked to the surrounding ecosystem. So what should you do, exactly?
Leaders obsess over making things better. Better jobs, and more of them. Better products, better services. Better quality of life.
Easy to say, hard to do.
Doing depends on making decisions. Via bold strategic manoeuvres or "great things are done by a series of small deeds,” decisions in pursuit of making organizations better depend on finding meaning from the data: information is currency.
This is so true in a digitally transformed world—given the sheer scale and complexity of even the things we take for granted—that every institution, every company, and every place must become obsessed with how to produce more information, particularly new information. No individual organization—no single place—produces enough new information to independently survive.
If you believe that’s an overstatement, if you think OpenAI, for example, independently produces enough new information to thrive indefinitely, think again. From where does it hire new engineers? Where does it get venture funding? Even its earliest hires were recommended by outside advisors. These inputs are external to OpenAI; they all come from the surrounding innovation ecosystem. OpenAI’s dependence upon the surrounding ecosystem is instructive: if it’s true for them, it’s true for you.
City, university, startup, established firm: there isn’t an organization or jurisdiction on earth unaffected by the reality of its dependence upon the surrounding innovation ecosystem. Your fortunes are inextricably linked to the health of your ecosystem and your ability to contribute to it and rely upon it.
But this raises a problem.
A List of Ingredients Is Not a Recipe
Today, we don’t fully know how or why innovation ecosystems work. Not with so many actors, so many components, so many inputs and interdependencies.
This places us at a crossroads: Which critical components are needed to future proof the economy? Which relationships matter? If new information is vital for the long term health and viability of a place and its actors, how do we attract and retain the talent that produces this information? Given innovation ecosystems are all different and our roles within them differ, what does that mean in decision-making terms?
What should leaders prioritize?
Houston, We Have a Gap
We need the know-how to keep up.
We need to create the conditions for know-how to emerge.
How to do this is less clear: we have an information gap.
Who Is the Survey For?
The Groundbreakers survey is intended to fill that gap with useful guidance for the following groups:
Higher Education
Government: Municipal, Regional and National
Economic Development Organizations and Chambers of Commerce
Innovation and Development Organizations, e.g. Startup Communities, Public Sector Organizations, Research Parks.
What’s In It For You?
Leaders from any of the sectors mentioned should find actionable takeaways in the following areas:
Strategic Planning and Policy Making
Informed Decisions: The survey's findings should provide data-driven insights that inform the strategic planning and policy-making processes. Understanding the effectiveness of various ecosystem components allows for targeted organizational improvements and investments.
Benchmarking: Comparing your ecosystem's performance against broader trends can help identify where your region stands in terms of innovation support, infrastructure, and outcomes. This can guide policy adjustments or highlight areas for strategic focus.
Efficient Use of Resources: Insights into which areas of your innovation ecosystem participation are underperforming or where gaps exist can help direct funding and resources more efficiently, ensuring that efforts are concentrated where they can have the most impact.
Collaboration and Partnership Opportunities
Identifying Partners: The survey can highlight areas within the ecosystem where collaboration between academia, government, and the private sector is particularly effective, suggesting models for partnership that could be replicated or adapted in your region.
Networking: Understanding the roles and perceived effectiveness of different actor groups within the ecosystem can facilitate more strategic networking and collaboration efforts, aligning stakeholders with complementary objectives and resources.
Talent Attraction and Retention
Skilled Workforce: Insights into the availability of mentorship, funding, and support for entrepreneurs can help in developing programs that attract and retain talented individuals and startups in your region, contributing to a vibrant, innovative community.
Economic Growth and Competitiveness
Global Integration: For those in college towns or involved in economic development, understanding how well local ecosystems are integrated into global trade and markets can inform initiatives to enhance global competitiveness and attract foreign investment.
Innovation-led Growth: The survey can provide evidence of the correlation between a robust innovation ecosystem and overall economic health, underscoring the importance of fostering innovation for long-term economic resilience and growth.
Evidence for Support: Aggregated survey data can serve as evidence to advocate for more support and funding from higher levels of government or private investors, showcasing the needs and potential of your organization within the local innovation ecosystem.
Personal and Professional Growth
Knowledge Expansion: Engaging with the survey findings allows professionals to stay informed about the latest trends and best practices in innovation ecosystem development, enhancing their expertise and value to their organizations.
About the Survey
The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be kept confidential and analyzed only in aggregate form.
After some basic demographic questions, there are 5 questions asking you to:
Assess the actors within your innovation ecosystem
Rate the importance of innovation ecosystem components
Make recommendations