An ecosystem emerges around specific challenges, a shared vision for a desired future, and a collection of demonstrators that show that we can pursue the change.

The nature of such innovation ecosystems depends on the number and type of stakeholders included. Ownership, motivation and size will influence the role and behaviour of the different stakeholders.

Leadership is a critical factor for such arrangement to work. Establishing aleader or leader organisation to orchestrate the ecosystem is therefore key to the success of an ecosystem.

The orchestrators’ responsibility is to organize and synchronise  knowledge and interventions by different actors in the ecosystem. The role is in charge of initiating, establishing and maintaining the innovation ecosystems by identifying relevant actors, helping to establish new partnerships, and inciting the intiaitaion of new activities.

One of the biggest challenges for the orchestrator is to assist  stakeholders in balancing their own individual interests with the collective ambitions of the ecosystem. The orchestrator must ensure that the actors have a common understanding of their own stake in the ecosystem's vision, and facilitate movement in this direction.

A portfolio to drive transformation

One of the most important tools for an orchestrator is a portfolio of innovations. A portfolio contains many different but connected initiatives. Each initiative might hold one or more demonstrators.

Learning from ongoing demonstrators is critical for the ecosystem to adapt and evolve. Some demonstrators might fail individually, but these will provide great learning opportunities for the ecosystem as a whole.

A portfolio containing wide set of demonstrators will support the ecosystem to try out different approaches and continually improve how the system works. The number, the combination and the types of demonstrators in a portfolio will vary depending on the chosen systemic challenges. A portfolio can also have multiple funding mechanisms for different initiatives.

When we imagine far-reaching transformations, the work of an ecosystem, orchestrated via portfolios, can continue indefinitely, as long as there is the drive for change and challenges to solve.