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Innovation How does an innovation ecosystem

ecosystems in support bioinformatics companies?

bioinformatics Providing easy access to:

Highly qualified personnel through
bioinformatics institutes
e.g. European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the
Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, the Swiss Institute of
Ecosystems, such as Silicon Valley in California Bioinformatics (SIB)
(USA), have been forerunners in supporting
Customers
entrepreneurship and innovation. In Europe,
e.g. pharma, biotech industry
attempts have been made to create and nurture
ecosystems that attract cutting-edge firms. Several
Facilities and collaborators
factors play a critical role in fostering social e.g. biobanks, labs, research groups
and technical innovation in such regions: high-
quality education systems leading to large pools Companies that provide services to the
of graduates, well-funded research programmes, company
access to financial and human resources, e.g. lawyers, media experts
and an open mindset towards innovation and
Opportunities to showcase their work
entrepreneurship.
e.g. ELIXIR Bioinformatics Industry Forum
While research has provided extensive insights into
Mentors
the interrelationship between technological change e.g. serial entrepreneurs, technology experts
and innovation in ecosystems, digital research
infrastructures, such as ELIXIR, play a crucial Support systems
role in amplifying the development of innovation e.g. joint labs, incubators
ecosystems, particularly in the data-driven life
Funding from public and private investors
science sector .
6,7
Physical infrastructure
e.g. transport, accommodation/offices, communications
What is an innovation Digital infrastructure

ecosystem? e.g. computing facilities, or data resources

Innovation ecosystems are complex, localised
their products directly to individual customers
networks of individuals and organisations that
(13%). The majority of companies rely on large
facilitate an adequate flow of knowledge, talent
corporates (83%), other SMEs (63%), universities
and financial resources to create the basis for
(46%) or clinics and hospitals (48%) to sell their
sustained value co-creation . For knowledge-
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services and products.
based industries, ecosystems are a prerequisite
in allowing researchers and entrepreneurs
Proximity to customers and resources is an
to transform scientific insights from research
important factor for many growing companies
publications into products and services that create
to allow innovators to start and run a company
value for the society.
from anywhere in the world. This is true even for
open data resources and digital infrastructures,
Many thriving ecosystems harbour both innovative
including cloud storage and federated data
technology companies and customers of those
processing capabilities. In our survey, companies
companies. Our survey showed that bioinformatics
stated that half of their staff were recruited in the
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) rarely sell
6 Constantinides, P., Henfridsson, O. & Parker, G. G. Platforms and infrastructures in the digital age. Inf. Syst. Res. 29, 381–400 (2018).
7 Adner, R. & Kapoor, R. Value creation in innovation ecosystems: How the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology
generations. Strateg. Manag. J. 31, 306–333 (2010).
8 Russell, M. G. & Smorodinskaya, N. V. Leveraging complexity for ecosystemic innovation. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 136, 114–131 (2018).
9 Russell, M. G., Huhtamäki, J., Still, K., Rubens, N. & Basole, R. C. Relational capital for shared vision in innovation ecosystems. Triple Helix 2, 1–36 (2015).