Driving meaningful job and wealth creation has been at the forefront of communities around the world. With many new employment and economic opportunities coming from scalable tech startups, regional governments and economic development stakeholders have sought effective and creative methods to support these young companies and build ecosystems that provide them with the right programs, services and resources they need to scale quickly and sustainably.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve seen significant growth in the creation of innovation centers and incubators in communities both big and small around the world. While they may differ in structure, services and operating models, most share the common goal of supporting the creation and growth of scalable tech ventures to drive sustained prosperity for their regions.
However, while many communities have embraced the importance of building vibrant innovation hubs, it has become increasingly apparent there is no one-size-fits-all strategy or operating model for such centers. Communities vary greatly in their political and legal systems, anchor industries, entrepreneurial affinity, civic leadership and demographics, among other variables, that collectively influence the best strategy to drive economic prosperity within a region.
This context is what led us to develop and pilot the "Platform Effect," a strategy heavily rooted in a decentralized operating model that engages community champions to help spur and expedite economic growth. Through the development, testing and deployment of this model, it became increasingly apparent that the many unique, and sometimes ambiguous, nuances of rural and small- to medium-sized communities need to be leveraged and exploited to truly foster any startup tech ecosystem.
Herein are some insights and experiences from our pilot project at NORCAT, a regional innovation center serving Sudbury, Canada, that I believe will assist other leaders in city-regions around the world seeking to drive economic prosperity.
Defining Regional Challenges And Opportunities
Like many smaller city regions, Sudbury was grappling with civic challenges related to an aging population, economic diversification, talent attraction and migration of youth to larger urban centers. Through a series of conversations with community leaders, it became evident there was a burning need for an innovation hub that could inspire, engage and support a burgeoning startup ecosystem and, more importantly, help translate this support into meaningful economic outcomes.
Small and medium-sized communities with this same need must identify the variables that will have the largest influence — positive or negative — on an innovation hub’s strategy, operating structure and implementation road map. The question that needs to be answered is: "What services should the innovation center provide, and how can you offer them with limited resources?"
Engaging The Right Community Champions
At its core, the Platform Effect is a decentralized operating model that engages community, entrepreneurial and business champions to help deliver on the innovation center’s mandate. By providing a "platform," the center can leverage the creativity, entrepreneurial drive and "care and concern" of these community champions so they can contribute to their community’s future prosperity. Put simply, these champions not only identify, develop and deliver on programs and initiatives that align with an innovation center’s mandate, but also they retain ownership, accountability and control throughout the process.
This approach transforms community engagement by identifying and engaging individuals with the right skills, capacity and passion to meaningfully contribute to the region’s future prosperity. To do this effectively, it is incumbent on an innovation center to define an actionable road map that clearly identifies opportunities and initiatives for these community champions on a continual basis.
Sacrificing Efficiency For More Creativity
The Platform Effect is deliberately designed without rigid rules or frameworks. It is a model that must be prepared to celebrate inefficiency and failure in return for creativity and constant reinvention. This strategy requires economic development leaders to take a deep breath and realize they do not need to centralize or own all facets of the tech startup ecosystem. All this said, this type of model is only successful with the selective engagement of the right people with the right credentials at the right time.
There are numerous examples of champion-led initiatives that demonstrate how deploying this approach can build the necessary infrastructure, services and culture to meet the needs of the entrepreneurial community and, ultimately, expedite delivery on the innovation center’s mandate. For example, the volunteer mentorship and advisory services group, the local angel investor network, the state-of-the-art internet of things (IoT) innovation lab and the regional venture capital fund were all strategic priorities for NORCAT, but by providing the "platform," they were delivered at no cost. NORCAT does not own them, and we do not manage them. Our role was to identify the need for the programs and services, engage the right community champions to build and own the initiatives, and continue to support and influence them because they are critically important to delivering on our regional economic development mandate.
This reflects the notion that constraint drives creativity. Create a platform to enable your community rock stars to contribute and subsequently get the well-deserved credit in doing so.
Replicating The Platform Effect Around The World
Organizations, communities and regional innovation centers that want to leverage and build on this model need to recognize the importance of civic leadership and collaboration. In our experience, the hardest part of implementing this model is finding and engaging the right champions and providing a sustainable platform that allows them to "do their thing."
Given that this model is flexible and scalable, it is hard for any rural, small or medium-sized community to find an excuse not to do something meaningful with limited resources. Furthermore, if there is one thing we have learned, it’s that when the right people are committed to working hand in hand with the right strategy to support their local economy, the results will be exceptional.
This article was originally published by Don Duval, NORCAT CEO in Forbes.