Key elements of a thriving innovation ecosystem
Many countries want to replicate the Bay- /Boston-Area innovation magic. Many have tried pouring capital into R&D, setting up special parks, importing expensive equipment and even importing scientists. Nothing noteworthy has emerged from any of these, besides the customary papers and patents.
Many forums and discussions are commissioned to ponder over the key elements and attributes of a thriving innovation ecosystem so as to understand and implement these in the local context, mostly resulting in roundabout discussions and not yielding any meaningful insights.
The answer is complicated and may not be “technical” at all.
I have been fortunate enough to be part of multiple innovation ecosystems in different countries and here is my take on what I think are key attributes of a vibrant innovation ecosystem.
1) Capital- human and financial
Innovation requires a lot of trial and error, which requires lots of material and human resources. High impact innovation is characterized by high cost and low odds experiments. The bigger the mipact, the bigger the cost and lower the odds.
If your chances of success in an experiment are 1%, then a person who carries out 1000 experiments is at a significant advantage than someone who carries out 10 experiments. So, whoever has the resources and the motivation to carry out a large number of trials will prevail.
Some of the biggest innovators in the world spend significantly above the global average on R&D as a percentage of GDP.
2) Culture of Freedom- of speech, thought and expression
“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” — Richard Feynman
Free enquiry demands that nothing be beyond question and investigation. For innovators, the future is always better than the past. countries that have unwarranted reverence for the past and are deeply philosophical may be at a disadvantage. In that worldview, the world was created perfect at the beginning and has been degrading since. People who think the past was golden and was better cannot re-imagine, which is a necessity for innovation. (if the best has gone before you then what more is there to do than retrograde? )
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” — Isaac newton
Though innovators appreciate contributions of people before them, they know improvement and perfection is always ahead, which means they are going to do it better than their ancestors, they know much more than their ancestors, they have better resources than their ancestors, not the other way around.
To disagree, to question without fear, to upend established structures and norms, to lack reverence- sometimes for no specific purpose at all, all sound anathema and even pointless. But that is the price to pay for an innovative culture.
3) Bottom-up innovators
What sets humans apart from other species? Humans are better tool makers and better tool users. Within human societies, the most technologically and economically advanced ones are similarly better at making and using tools. If you are having to buy your tools and dont know how to make them yourself, then you are at a disadvantage in the innovation game. Once you have become an andavanced innovator, you may chose to outsource some low level activity to other countries — not because you dont know how to do it, but because it is not worth your time.
Facebook, amazon, google, apple, mocrosoft, all call US their home. The tools that were used to create these trillion dollar behemoths were also built there- java, python, r c++, react, julia, html and hundreds of other open source tools that are freely available to anyone in the world to download and use.
But no one else in the world has yet created an original trillion dollar tech company.
4) Capitalistic and meritocratic society
Innovations needs a driver, a motive. capital and recognition of talent and endeavor provide that motive. A thriving innovation ecosystem must be relatively corruption-free so as to offer a fair opportunity to anyone without prejudice, reward with capital and celebrate merit.
5) When hungry people seek out the land of opportunity
44 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children in the US.
People emigrate because they think better opportunities and recognition await them elsewhere. They want more from life and they are willing to put in the work if they know there is a fair chance of being rewarded and recognized. When such a lot finds a place where they are given a fair chance to contribute and be recognized, magic happens.
Several countries have one or more of the above five characteristics. But finding all of these in one place is a rarity and thats where you find the innovation magic.
You will also notice that none of the above is a “technical” attribute, though innovation by nature is a technical endeavor. You cannot mandate innovation, you can encourage it by building the right elements in an ecosystem.
when the above attributes are present we not only have a thriving innovation ecosystem, we actually have a better society!
