Understanding Tech Ecosystems How They Support Growth And Innovation

Understanding of ecosystems has been critical to every role I have held, be it at Microsoft, Meta (previously Facebook) and now Snap Inc. In over a decade of working with developers, enterprise customers, creators, community leaders and partners, I have learnt a lot. More importantly, I have had the opportunity to leverage one of my strengths or “super powers”, which is building agile strategies to grow and sustain a tech ecosystem. With this opportunity comes a great responsibility. I therefore take a very methodological approach in understanding ecosystems and how to align them strategically.

In the same vein, I have realized that the word “ecosystem”, when used, without much context could mean ANY and EVERYTHING, and yet strangely, could mean NOTHING at all, at the same time. Think of “metaverse”. “Ecosystem” sounds great, but it “packs a lot of punch” more than we acknowledge. In this post, I will do my best to break down what a tech ecosystem is, what it consists of, and how it supports and sustains growth and innovation in tech.

From the beginning — what is an ecosystem?

The word ‘ecosystem’ was first coined by Roy Clapham in 1930 but interestingly, it was the ecologist Arthur Tansley who in 1935, fully defined an ecosystem concept in an article: “The whole system,… including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment”.

It is no surprise that it is an ecologist (an expert in the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings) who coined that term. The second portion of the word is ‘system’ and it is defined as a “set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network”. From Tansley’s perspective and from a biological point of view, in a rich ecosystem, organisms are consistently interacting with one another including their surroundings while reacting to external and internal factors as a unit.

1a — A basic depiction of an ecosystem. Source: researchgate.netLooking at the above picture (1a), you can see the importance of each organism within the ecosystem and how it sustains growth, maturity and development. If any of the key players are removed, for example- the plant and trees, it poses a threat to the sustainability of the ecosystem. Let us look at a quick visual and a basic example: should the plant/tree be removed, herbivores like the rabbit and squirrel will vacate the premises and carnivores like the fox will move to other areas or possibly die off due to a lack of food. This potentially threatens any other living organism and slowly diminishes how matter is recycled in the environment; eventually, a once rich and vibrant ecosystem, will potentially be destroyed.

What is the make up of a tech ecosystem?

With our understanding of the ecosystem, we can now define tech ecosystems as an interconnected and interdependent network of diverse entities coming together to spur innovation in the tech environment pertaining to products and services in a sustainable manner.

Let’s take a look at what a tech ecosystem may comprise of:

2a — My sketch on entities of ecosystems — don’t judge me :)Think of any strong and thriving regional tech ecosystems (example: San Francisco and New York) and you will more than likely see all six entities play a major role: strong developer community, accelerators and tech hubs, tech focused startups, established businesses and companies, engagement and connection, and Universities/Schools.

Let us break them down further:

Strong Developer Community: As technology continues to evolve at faster rates, a vibrant and strong developer community is critical in any tech ecosystem. A strong developer community promotes learning and motivates members of the community to develop their skillsets. This ensures that the ecosystem is armed with competent developers who can tackle various problems leading to innovation of products and services. The community serves as a support system where failure is seen as part of the journey to growth and development. This is achieved through engagement and connection.

Engagement and Connection: In a thriving ecosystem, there is constant engagement. Healthy business relationships are also forged on a consistent basis. In order to promote learning and connections, these engagements often happen via Meetups/Usergroups (UGs), as well as other community events such as conferences, hackathons and workshops. At these events, developers meet each other to learn from one another and utilize the support system. It really takes a village — constant engagement and connection over time builds this village of community members who not only take, but give back to promote growth and sustainability of the community. Example Microsoft User Groups, Google Developer Groups, Microsoft MVP program and Google Developer experts as advocates who give back.

Established Businesses and Companies: Established tech companies do not only provide opportunities for developers to make a living but they support innovation in the ecosystem while serving as inspiration for other developing entities: startups. More often, established companies open their doors to the developer community to hold events which encourage learning. They also have resources for Research and Development (R&D) which provides other opportunities for developer community members to work on cutting edge technologies to spur innovation. Example: Snap AR GHOST program.

Accelerators & Tech Hubs: Accelerators are critical when it comes to sustaining any tech ecosystem — they support early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship, and financing. They simply help to accelerate the growth of early stage startups. Without accelerators in any particular ecosystem, as entrepreneurs build and innovate, the ramp up to growth will take longer and possibly discourage or hinder progress. Tech hubs on the other hand provide physical spaces or environments where tech enabled startups can work and thrive while networking with other like-minded individuals and startups. Example: Google Startup Programs, Atlanta Tech Village

Universities & Schools: Universities and schools not only feed rich talent into an ecosystem (which is critical), but they play an important role in the development of new and innovative tech ideas. Universities provide an environment for connections, and support talent to their students and other researchers to foster growth. Universities are also known for helping researchers and students patent their ideas and provide an environment where innovators can test their ideas. University based hackathons provide student developers the opportunity to quickly ideate and build projects. In fact, the future developers, innovators, builders and world shakers are more likely to come out of these Universities. Example: Georgia Tech, University of Waterloo, Stanford University

How ecosystems support growth and innovation

Now that we understand what an ecosystem is and what constitutes or makes up an ecosystem, let us take a look at how ecosystems support growth and innovation sustainably in tech.

Without the key fabrics of a tech ecosystem, it will be extremely difficult for any tech related startup to succeed. This reminds me of a small portion of my home in Atlanta which is not able to grow Bermuda-grass like the other parts of the lawn. Although there is soil, and it receives enough water, there is one thing missing, which is sunlight. Without direct sunlight, it does not matter how much water or fertilizer I will supplement, it simply will NOT help grow that part of the lawn.

This is because Bermuda-grass is a perennial warm-season grass, meaning it comes back every year and grows most actively from late spring through hot summer months and it is usually the type of grass you will find in Georgia. But without a key actor or prerequisite (sunlight) as part of the ecosystem which is needed to promote growth, the grass will simply fail to grow. This is how tech ecosystems work — without key ingredients such as a University, Strong Developer Community or Tech focused startup (to name a few), it will simply be difficult for any tech related startup to succeed. Tech ecosystems do not work in parts, but rather all the entities are interconnected, intertwined and interdependent to help support innovation to work as one unit.

About eighty percent of startups fail — this is no secret, however, investors understand that startups have a “survival chance” when they are able to pivot to a more successful concept or iterate on the original concept. This normally happens in a thriving ecosystem. This is because the vibrant tech ecosystem provides a community of developers with support, talent, cutting edge research, physical location, mentors and the opportunity to fail and learn until success becomes the only option. Building tech ecosystems is not an easy task. It takes years or even decades of deliberate efforts and investments to bring them to life. It is however worth mentioning, that the value tech ecosystems bring far outweighs the complexity and time it takes to cultivate it.

Innovation survives and thrives within the fabrics of tech ecosystems and these ecosystems help support and generate enormous economic value. It however does not stop there, since it extends beyond the economies of our world as it impacts our everyday lives. Tech ecosystems have enabled innovators to build platforms to power commerce, help us extend beyond our realities and drive meaningful value with technology. Consider a merchant who is able to sell his products on the global market — this merchant can now earn even more to feed his children and cater for the needs of his family or community. Think of a grand-parent in a hospice who can now venture throughout the world via virtual reality; even better, consider how we could experience the world around us by augmenting it with digital objects. Consider how through machine learning and AI, my thermostat in my home in Atlanta can regulate itself to help me save money while I work from anywhere in the world. I could go on and on, but I believe that my point has been made.

The possibilities for technological innovation are endless but they are only made possible with one key ingredient: sustainable ecosystems!

Joseph Darko
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Note: My opinions are my own and not that of my employer