At WorldLabs, we are capitalising on the future of innovation – A study by Accenture

Accenture Research published an interesting report about the power of ‘ecosystem innovation’ and the need for a new digital platform that changes the way we innovate. We think it is extremely relevant to our mission, and would like to share it with you.

The report starts with an introduction by Chairman and CEO of Accenture, Pierre Nanterme, who writes “Large companies and entrepreneurs believe collaboration and open innovation are, as yet, under-delivering on their promise. One reason for this shortfall [is that] rarely do they participate in truly entrepreneurial innovation— collaboration among a broader ecosystem of players”. He continues, “Successful ecosystem innovation will require concerted and coordinated efforts among governments, startups, large enterprises and ‘bridgemakers’—meaning organizations that help ‘connect the dots’ between participants, solutions and markets”.

At WorldLabs, we have worked hard to bridge this gap. We bring together all of the fundamental players in the innovation ecosystem, and we give them a digital space where they can connect and find the necessary tools to collaborate and innovate.

Accenture Research further reports that “39% of entrepreneurs worldwide would like to collaborate with larger companies but do not have sufficient access to them in their country”. At the same time, “large companies currently collaborate, or will collaborate, with startups/entrepreneurs specifically on innovation. However, a significant majority (69 percent) collaborate with only a few select startups on an ad hoc basis instead of collaborating with multiple startups on an ongoing basis”.

According to the report, the answers to a successful ecosystem actually “lie in closer digital collaboration between large companies and entrepreneurs across a broader and more open ecosystem, […] where enterprises can easily leverage new ideas and entrepreneurial cultures, and where entrepreneurs can leverage the scale of large companies”. The report emphasises the need for a new digital platform to “[…] enable a stronger model of entrepreneurship and innovation. […] The digital economy requires greater numbers of actors from multiple industry sectors as well as citizens and governments to jointly develop common solutions”. The report defines this as ‘ecosystem innovation’, “an approach based on more connected entrepreneurship, [which] demands greater levels of digital collaboration and cooperation among participants in a wider, more dynamic ecosystem”.

The figure below, shows how we are slowly moving toward an ‘ecosystem innovation’ and highlights its advantages to large companies and entrepreneurs.

At WorldLabs, we have created a digital platform that, as our slogans say, can truly ‘foster innovation on a global scale’ and ‘elevate ideas’. We bring together innovators and organisations – within academic, public and private sectors – in an ecosystem that fosters innovation.

Once signed up, our innovators can showcase their ventures, discover potential co-founders and mentors, and browse through relevant funding and collaboration opportunities.

Organisations then have various options to choose from to engage with innovators.

Community Management allows universities, incubators and accelerators to more easily manage, recruit, engage and track the progress of their entrepreneurs.

Contest Management lets public organisations and corporations create bespoke contests. This tool allows organisations to streamline every aspect of their innovation initiatives, from curating and managing contests and crowdsourcing challenges, to giving them exclusive access to a global community of innovators.

The figure below, from the Accenture report shows that all of the parties involved in ‘ecosystem innovation’ have a strong desire to collaborate with one another.

The report also found a statistically significant correlation between collaboration, innovation and growth among both large companies and startups. Moreover, it projects that the proportion of large companies’ total revenues generated by collaborating with startups/entrepreneurs will grow from 9% to 20% within five years, and that an increase in digital collaboration could also increase the global GDP by US$1.5 trillion or 2.2% of world output.

At WorldLabs, we recognise the power of fostering innovation and the positive impact that our platform can have on the world. We believe we have successfully created the foundations for what Accenture describes as ‘Ecosystem Innovation’, and are proud of what our team has created.

If you would like to join our journey as we capitalise on the market need for new and disruptive product to change the way we do innovation, you can become a WorldLabs shareholder by investing in our Seedrs campaign here. We’re already more than halfway through our funding target!

If you would like to read more about Accenture’s report, click here.