Lawrence National Centre presents the research report, Developing Innovation Ecosystems through Public-Private Partnerships: Insights and Lessons from ENCQOR 5G. This new report studies the genesis, key processes and outcomes of ENCQOR 5G, an innovation ecosystem that was developed through a Public-Private Partnership (P3) to enable SMEs and researchers to test and scale their pre-commercialized 5G applications. It evaluates the program’s outcomes and compares the evaluations of other clusters to draw out 5 key lessons for developing ecosystems through P3s for next generation technologies.
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Executive summary:
At the early stage in the evolution of a technology, uncertainty looms large in developing innovations, and an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs to test their inventions becomes important in enhancing the chances of successful commercialization. While collaboration between private firms and government is deemed critical for developing such an ecosystem, there is little insight into how such partnerships can be developed and what factors govern their potential effectiveness.
This report features ENCQOR 5G, an innovation ecosystem that was developed through a public-private partnership (PPP) between three levels of government and five technology anchor firms to enable SMEs and researchers to test and scale their pre-commercialized 5G applications. It discusses the genesis of the program, the processes associated with its evolution and program outcomes.
Drawing on insights from the case and existing evaluations on other cluster initiatives, this report also recommends a systems approach to developing innovation ecosystems that:
1. Builds on existing strengths;
2. Has a well defined problem and focused approach;
3. Achieves consensus across stakeholders through integrating goals;
4. Ensures accountability and transparency; and
5. Facilitates the development of complementary capabilities.
At a time when Canada struggles to maintain its edge in innovation, these lessons serve to provide guidelines for industry and government in their initiative to establish robust ecosystems for next generation innovations.