Innovation Ecosystem Mapping

Competitiveness is more than just economic performance. The #omnibus is based on the assumption that the EU is severely lacking competitiveness vis-a-vis other regions. However, the 2024 'World Competitiveness Ranking' (by IMD in Lausanne) paints a more complicated picture. Europe's competitiveness is heterogenous (Western Europe stable; Eastern Europe declining) and also changes once you consider the quality of competitiveness. 1️⃣ If you equate competitiveness with labor productivity, Europe does indeed not do well. Hence, the ranking remarks: "While productivity is an essential aspect of competitiveness, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. A genuinely competitive entity excels in productivity and areas like quality, innovation, talent, and a good regulatory environment. This is why focusing solely on productivity is not enough to ensure competitiveness." 2️⃣ The EU has six countries in the top 20, with the U.S. ranking 12 and China 14. Europe's big economies are in the midfield with Germany (24), France (31), and Italy (42). France and Italy are stable in their position, while Germany dropped (from 17 in 2020 to 24 in 2024). Bottom Line: Competitiveness is a multidimensional construct and the omnibus discussion should reflect this and reach beyond a focus on compliance costs. We do not need competitiveness solely for the sake of economic performance. We need competitiveness to create prosperity for Europe's citizens, so we should look beyond one-dimensional perspectives... === Full Report: https://lnkd.in/dBc-XFnK Note: Underlying the WCR is a comprehensive measurement framework that compiles data in four dimensions: (1) economic performance, (2) government efficiency, (3) business efficiency, and (4) infrastructure.

The fortunes of regions in global value chains (GVCs) turn not just on participation but on the interplay of local capabilities and functional specialisation. A recent article by Eduardo Hernández-Rodríguez, Ron Boschma, Andrea Morrison, and Xianjia Ye, just out in Papers in Regional Science, delves into this dynamic, analysing 199 EU regions from 2000 to 2010. The results show how #relatedness in economic activities determines whether #regions climb up to high-value functions or languish in less complex roles. The authors find that regions do not climb the ladder of economic #complexity by chance. Success depends on their ability to build on what they already do well, moving into functions closely aligned with their existing economic strengths. In contrast, regions lacking such related capabilities face the risk of downgrading —losing footholds in critical parts of the value chain. This insight offers a fresh perspective on the "low-complexity traps" that hold back many parts of #Europe, particularly in the south and east of the continent. Yet, this is not a counsel of despair. The research underscores the power of deliberate, targeted strategies. For policymakers, this means discarding one-size-fits-all solutions in favour of bespoke interventions that identify and nurture the latent potential of regions. The #EU’s Smart Specialisation agenda, while a step in the right direction, must go further to integrate how functional complexity works within GVCs. If Europe is to achieve greater #competitiveness and increase its #productivity, this article offers an interesting road map. But the path to progress inevitably passes through regional #cohesion and equitable #growth. It is not about reinventing the wheel but about strengthening the spokes that already exist, enabling regions to connect to the hubs of global innovation and prosperity. For the full paper, see: https://lnkd.in/dbwsNuXY

You can’t do community engagement on a deadline. I came across a contract offer recently. It was a community engagement ‘task and finish’ project over 2 months. But community work doesn’t work like that. If you want genuine engagement then you need trust and trust isn’t a task on a Gantt chart. People don’t open up when the timeline says so, they open up when they feel safe. Genuine relationships don’t form during engagement events. They grow in conversations after the meeting has ended, during those ‘water cooler’ moments, at the school gates chats, on the walk back to the car. If your timeline has a fixed slot for “community engagement,” ask different questions: Who already has trust here and are they in the room? Where do people naturally gather and are we showing up there? Are we listening to meet a deadline or to understand what’s really going on? Community engagement isn’t the soft bit before delivery, it is THE work. It’s slow, human, and sometimes uncomfortable. But when people start to trust the process, everything else moves further and faster than any deadline could force. Please repost if you believe others need to hear this. #CommunityDevelopment #CoDesign #Trust

📉 Wales ranks bottom in a new index of economic competitiveness. A sobering new report from Professors Rob Huggins and Piers Thompson reveals just how deep the structural and behavioural economic challenges run across Welsh communities. Their NICE (Networks, Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship) Index ranks Wales below every region in England. Of the 330 local authorities in England and Wales, Merthyr Tydfil ranks last, with Blaenau Gwent and Anglesey not far behind. Even #Cardiff - the best-performing Welsh city - ranks only 62nd. The analysis goes beyond traditional infrastructure measures, describing much of Wales as “innovation deserts” i.e.places with limited entrepreneurial ecosystems, weak business networks, and underdeveloped creative infrastructure. But perhaps most worryingly, the authors point to profound behavioural barriers. In many post-industrial towns, they highlight the emergence of “self-limiting mindsets”, where historical narratives of economic decline have become self-fulfilling prophecies. People are disconnected from opportunity and from each other – the very opposite of what an entrepreneurial economy needs to thrive. As some of us have been saying for a long time, the report is clear in stating that investment in roads or broadband alone won’t cut it and its findings seem to be in contrast to the current approaches of both the Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government and regional bodies such as the Cardiff Capital Region where entrepreneurship is largely ignored. What’s needed are interventions that helps communities to rebuild networks, restore ambition, and foster entrepreneurial mindsets. In other words ✅ Community-based entrepreneurship programmes ✅ Creative-led innovation hubs ✅ New narratives of success that challenge the stories of decline ✅ Policy that supports both people and infrastructure Twenty five years ago, I helped to create the Entrepreneurship Action Plan for Wales - the first regional enterprise strategy anywhere in the world. Sadly it was abandoned six years later and the Welsh economy has never recovered properly since. Given the findings of this report, its time to build a Wales where networks thrive, innovation flourishes, and entrepreneurship becomes the driving force behind economic renewal. What do you think? How do we tackle these deep-rooted challenges? Full report here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ehHijmtN #Wales #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #EconomicDevelopment #NICEIndex #LevellingUp #UKEconomy #Networks #Creativity #BehaviouralChange #FoundationalEconomy #Startups #PublicPolicy #CommunityLed

I’ve found that most HealthTech founders assume innovation is their differentiator. In practice, it rarely is. The UK doesn’t lack technical brilliance or world-class research. What it lacks is translation – the ability to move from promising R&D to meaningful, sustained adoption inside the NHS. The hardest problems aren’t technical. They’re organisational. Structural, financial, and cultural frictions shape the pace of progress far more than the quality of the technology itself. Procurement is the clearest example. Despite endless reform attempts, it still prizes unit cost over value. I’ve watched technologies capable of saving millions across a pathway fail an affordability test because their upfront cost exceeded a local trust’s limit. It’s no surprise that nearly a third of suppliers now avoid NHS tenders altogether – the commercial terms just don’t work. Funding models make it worse. More than 70% of NHS trust leaders cite financial constraints as the main barrier to digital transformation. Even when solutions clearly deliver long-term savings, capital accounting rules often prevent reinvestment of those gains into operational budgets. The result is predictable: effective innovations that never reach scale because the fiscal space to adopt them simply doesn’t exist. Then there’s the human system. Clinical adoption depends less on technical brilliance and more on how technology fits the rhythm of care. Too often it adds friction – extra logins, duplicate steps, more admin. Around one in three trust leaders still call poor IT infrastructure a critical barrier. And culture matters just as much. Clinicians’ scepticism toward opaque AI tools isn’t resistance. It’s accountability. Trust has to be earned through transparency, evidence, and co-development. The technologies that scale are the ones that integrate clinicians early, turning potential critics into advocates. Yes, there are positive shifts. NICE’s move to consider cost-effectiveness, not just cost-saving, is significant. Regulatory agility has improved. But the underlying system frictions remain. The UK is still a world-class testbed, not yet a world-class market. After two decades, my conclusion is simple: HealthTech success in the UK isn’t about innovation quality anymore. It’s about system mastery. The winners will be those who can navigate NHS economics, align incentives, build trust, and embed change deep within clinical practice. The frontier, as I see it now, isn’t technical. It’s organisational. P.S. If you’re a HealthTech founder, DM to explore how to navigate the system, not just build for it.

AI Adoption: Reality Bites After speaking with customers across various industries yesterday, one thing became crystal clear: there's a significant gap between AI hype and implementation reality. While pundits on X buzz about autonomous agents and sweeping automation, business leaders I spoke with are struggling with fundamentals: getting legal approval, navigating procurement processes, and addressing privacy, security, and governance concerns. What's more revealing is the counterintuitive truth emerging: organizations with the most robust digital transformation experience are often facing greater AI adoption friction. Their established governance structures—originally designed to protect—now create labyrinthine approval processes that nimbler competitors can sidestep. For product leaders, the opportunity lies not in selling technical capability, but in designing for organizational adoption pathways. Consider: - Prioritize modular implementations that can pass through governance checkpoints incrementally rather than requiring all-or-nothing approvals - Create "governance-as-code" frameworks that embed compliance requirements directly into product architecture - Develop value metrics that measure time-to-implementation, not just end-state ROI - Lean into understanability and transparency as part of your value prop - Build solutions that address the career risk stakeholders face when championing AI initiatives For business leaders, it's critical to internalize that the most successful AI implementations will come not from the organizations with the most advanced technology, but those who reinvent adoption processes themselves. Those who recognize AI requires governance innovation—not just technical innovation—will unlock sustainable value while others remain trapped in endless proof-of-concept cycles. What unexpected adoption hurdles are you encountering in your organization? I'd love to hear perspectives beyond the usual technical challenges.

🚩The greatest barrier to AI transformation isn't technology - it's trust. History teaches us valuable lessons: In 1865, UK regulators required a man with a red flag to walk in front of automobiles, limiting them to 4 mph. 🚩Why? Fear of the unknown. Today, some organisations are putting their own "red flags" in front of AI adoption - excessive restrictions born from similar fears. But there's a better way. As we help businesses implement AI we've learned that resistance often stems from uncertainty, not opposition. When our team first introduced AI tools, I saw hesitation in even our most innovative team members. Here's what worked for us when we started our AI journey 6 years ago: We made AI adoption optional, letting early adopters showcase real productivity gains. > Created an environment of "AI experiments" where our team could safely experiment without pressure. > Celebrated creative ways to use AI while preserving their core expertise > Involved teams in AI policy-making, turning potential resistors into architects of change. > Embraced an AI-first approach to problem-solving The result? 95% voluntary AI tool adoption within 6 months, customer service transformation, a wide range of routine tasks, and most importantly, zero layoffs. 🚩Don't let fear put a red flag before your progress.  AI should augment human potential, not replace it. The future belongs to businesses that empower their team to become AI-fluent while valuing their irreplaceable human skills. 🚩Leadership isn't about forcing change - it's about inspiring evolution. What's your experience with AI adoption? Do you have a red flag and if so why? #Leadership #AI #FutureOfWork #EmployeeEmpowerment #ChangeManagement #Innovation

Giving people information is rarely enough to encourage a change in their behaviour. A better approach is to understand what is holding them back. In my role as Communications Officer in the IT Division of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, I constantly talk about change. Technology is developing at a lightening speed, and big part of my role focuses on supporting my colleagues in the adoption of new digital ways of working. In this job, I came to see that overcoming barriers that hold people back from adopting new technologies can, at times, be more important than guides, tutorials and announcements aimed at helping them to start using the tools.  Lack of awareness is usually just one of many factors which may prevent people from successfully adopting a new app or service. The barriers can include anything from lack of confidence to poor Internet connectivity. So, for those aiming to inspire change in others, consider these three points: 1️⃣ Understand the Obstacles: When seeking change, the instinct is often to push harder, using incentives, reasoning, data, and evidence. A better approach is to ask yourself -and others- what obstacles prevent people from doing the right thing. 2️⃣ Shift Your Focus: Move away from fixating on the change you wish to introduce and redirect your focus towards understanding your audience and their context. 3️⃣ Engage in Conversations: Talk to people you are trying to influence. A simple yet powerful question to pose is, "Why?" Be prepared to ask it multiple times to uncover honest insights. Another technique is to involve the individuals you serve in the process, turning them into co-creators of the solution. When thinking about strategies to propel people forward, it's crucial not to overlook the barriers that may be holding them back. Image credit: Kaamran Hafeez for the New Yorker 

Last year at Microsoft, I spent months untangling Microsoft Copilot’s global rollout. AI’s biggest roadblocks? They weren’t technical at all. Imagine a meeting room in Kauala Lumpur. Someone says, “We’ve always done it this way.” Another whispers, “AI will replace our jobs.” A third leans in: “Our data is too sensitive for AI.” Familiar script, right? Truth is, the toughest challenges weren’t coding or infrastructure, they were deep-seated habits and fears. The breakthrough? It always came from the believers. In every successful Copilot launch, we found our internal champions early like GAURAV JOSHI, Sergey Oreshin, the ones eager to explore, not argue. We trained them, armed them with quick wins, and let their teams see real ROI instead of vague promises. Progress snowballed from those first pockets of success. Here’s a three-step playbook I swear by: 1️⃣ Start with the believers: Map out your internal AI curiosity. 2️⃣ Equip and coach them: Focus on real teams, not abstract rollouts. 3️⃣ Let their results speak: Showcase ROI, then scale, fear melts before evidence. Every company talks about technical innovation, but it’s culture that makes or breaks AI adoption. So, what’s the single biggest cultural barrier you’ve seen hold back real innovation? Share your story below and let’s gather ideas that move the needle. (This is why I collect lessons weekly in Executive AI Essentials—check my profile if you want the next playbook.) PS: Pic made in wonderful Malaysia, but Nano Banana ironed my shirt :)

It’s easy to talk about partnerships as a strategy... Harder to realise you’ve never actually shown up for the people you want to work with. 🙊 We all know relationships grow from familiarity and trust and yet, I’ve definitely been guilty of waiting until I need something to start showing up. And it always feels a little… late. You get that horrible "icky" feeling where you don't want to be transactional, you want to be a human, yet it's pretty hard to avoid when your need is kind of urgent (#startuplyf). Plus, starting a conversation at this stage usually doesn't end with the best outcome for anyone - because you haven't taken the time to truly understand what the other person does or sees value in. This week’s 1% challenge is to fix that kind of gap before it opens up. 👀 Spend 15 minutes following 10 people your startup would genuinely benefit from knowing: potential collaborators, investors, creators, advocates. Not their company pages, but THEM. Start paying quiet attention. ➡️ What are they writing about? ➡️ What do they care about? ➡️ Where does your work overlap? And then, slowly, show up and add a thoughtful comment, share something relevant, or send a friendly DM when it makes sense. You’ll get a feel for how they think. They’ll start to recognise your name. And over time, it becomes less of a cold intro and more of a warm continuation. If you're running a partnership push or kicking off your raise with investors, consider building a shortlist and making this part of your outreach rhythm. Quiet engagement now makes the follow-up much easier later. It’s about building quiet familiarity, so when the time does come to connect more directly, it feels natural, not opportunistic. Because marketing isn’t just what you publish. It’s how (and with whom) you show up 🙌. New here? Bridget Cull and I drop the 1% Startup Marketing Challenge every Tuesday. Keep an eye out here 👀 or register via the link in comments below to make sure you don’t miss out. #startupmarketingchallenge