We learnt during the MIT REAP program that if we want to have our Monterrey’s Region as a place of attractiveness and friendly for the entrepreneurship and innovation’s practices, we have to know all the capabilities available in our ecosystem, and also those that we must develop.

But I still seeing that we have several of initiatives, programs and places where the technology development and innovation happen in our region, but people related with these doesn’t know about them.

So, as Paul Hobcraft (innovation thinker) says.

“We are entering the world of innovation ecosystems where broader, more complex innovation challenges, through greater collaborations can be achieved.

Collaborative Ecosystems are forging a new direction and momentum for innovation to travel and tackle more demanding innovation that requires the capabilities of more than one to deliver what is becoming increasingly possible through technology and the network effect we see through our growing connections.”¹

During past year, we develop a map of Monterrey’s region about its ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation, so I highly recommend you visit our site to know it2, because it’s fundamental for new ways to create prosperity.

Now, if we are convinced to thrive in our ecosystem, the challenge that we have in our hands is to connect and build up the nodes around it, because …

when we see things through the lens of an ecosystem, we will see the value of building up the nodes around it.

In fact, a recent report by Accenture Strategy found that because business models are being constantly disrupted, ecosystems have become a “cornerstone” of future growth”. So, if we are going to compete (in our case against other regions) effectively, we need to learn to understand ecosystems³.

Ecosystems share many of the characteristics of traditional markets⁴.

PARTICIPANTS Individual players or organizations   Role within the environment Participants function or part played in a given environment Reach through the environment ability to extend activity or interactions through the environment Capability or key value proposition Range of activities that participants are able to pursue or undertake within the environment

INTERACTIONS Products or services interacted   Rules governing the environment Set of explicit or implicit principles governing conduct within the environment Connections of elements Linkages across the environment connecting elements such as data, knowledge, or products Course of interactions Speed and direction at which content or value is exchanged among participants

Finally, I found relevant to share the following piece of a study of Accenture⁵

MASTER THE ECOSYSTEM CULTURE

“The most successful in the ecosystem are those companies who embrace an ecosystem culture. Only then are they able to manage strategic, systematic and programmatic collaboration across the key capabilities that enable an ecosystem—data sharing, talent pooling and building the platform”.

Learn from the ecosystem masters and pursue bolder approaches to seizing the ecosystem opportunity:

Adopt the mindset. Embrace the notion of collaboration. Most masters (77 percent) are open to partnering broadly in a variety of areas.

Lead from the top.  Garner commitment from senior leaders who will commit time and resources to building a successful ecosystem. Clearly define a role for leading the ecosystem—62 percent of masters have the CEO responsible for the ecosystem strategy.

See beyond four walls. Sharing equals succeeding. More than half (61 percent) of masters are consistently looking across the value chain for opportunities to collaborate because they understand the value at stake.15 Be willing to share data to gain better insights and talent to build stronger capabilities that win over customers. Share value through co-developed platforms.

Ecosystems are here to stay. There are masters seizing the opportunity, and non-masters who are missing out on the full potential of ecosystems. I hope these initial references about the value of the ecosystems of innovation and entrepreneurship help us to build together the culture and practices to know, understand, connect, co-develop and multiple the value sustainable by working with our ecosystems, in order to generate better prosperity in our region

References:

¹ https://ecosystems4innovating.com/2021/02/11/the-power-of-innovation-ecosystems/

² REAP Monterrey: https://entrepreneursmty.com/innovation-ecosystem/

³ INC. – How to Compete in a World Ruled by Ecosystems.

⁴ IBM The new age of ecosystems – Redefining partnering in an ecosystem environment.

⁵ Accenture – Three things Ecosystem Master get right.