Building and leveraging the innovation ecosystem and clusters: universities, startups, accelerators, alliances, and partnerships

Abstract

This article focuses on the concepts of ecosystems and clusters, with an emphasis on their importance for building vibrant a vibrant and life science/biopharma industry. We illustrate the underlying principles through work published in academic articles and in the popular press. These are highlighted in brief overviews of several mature and emerging ecosystems in the United States, Europe and Australia. The US perspective is based on our own professional life experiences in Boston, Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Pittsburgh, and, with a shorter preview of Philadelphia where we’ve both done business and have close colleagues.  The article ends with a look to the future in a concluding section titled “What’s Coming Next”.  It is our attempt to look at the future of digitally enhanced collaborative innovation.  This is based on our observations during the first 9 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing, and working from a distance. We ask, what is the potential impact of these emerging digital technologies on work and advancement of the agenda in the life sciences industries? Will the pandemic transform or disrupt the borders and mode of collaboration of traditional definitions of ecosystems and clusters as we define them today?