Course Overview

Comparative Innovation Ecosystems :: Europe v Silicon Valley v Asia

Continental Europe (CE) today serves as the foundation model for many societies, economies and innovation ecosystems across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Key structural elements of this 'traditional' model include conservative family- and state-owned enterprises, public universities, a strong State role, a bias towards debt over equity finance, an emphasis on communalism over individualism, and a historic focus on mature legacy industries, particularly manufacturing, natural resource extraction, commerce and agriculture.
Silicon Valley, in contrast, with its heavy focus on fast-moving information technologies, risk capital, research universities, public corporations, early adopting consumers, and individual initiative, has emerged as the region that diverges most strongly from the CE's dominant socioeconomic model. Over the past 10+ years, Europe has made significant progress towards a world-class startup, scale-up and venture capital ecosystem, but continues to lag Silicon Valley in several areas. As Europe faces growing competition from Asia and the US in computing, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), are its traditional science, engineering, and industry IP/growth platforms adequate to secure CE’s future competitiveness, prosperity, sustainability and societal well-being? What lessons does Europe offer for Silicon Valley and Asia?

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Course Methodology

Tactile Design Thinking for Complex Systems :: Cultural Anthropology

'Slice & Dice' :: Ecosystem Layers :: Clay Model Work :: Relationship Maps :: Building the Ecosystem 'Stack' :: Institutions :: Networks :: Markets :: Family Structures :: Social Stratification :: Hierarchy :: Governance :: Identity, Narrative & Groupthink :: Myopia & Taboos

This course employs hands-on ‘Tactile Design Thinking’ to deconstruct, embody, map and assess core entities, relationships and performance in innovation ecosystems. Students use sculpting clay, relationship maps and storytelling to capture the layered structure and behaviors of key institutions, groups and socio-technical influences and constraints. Collaborative design projects focus students' attention on grounded comparisons of ecosystem structure and performance across Europe and Silicon Valley. The approach references the respective science, engineering, design, industry and management traditions, mindsets, networks and cultures that undergird innovation economies. Sociological concepts such as hierarchy, status, social stratification, group identity, herd behaviors, groupthink, cultural myopia, signalling and myth-telling are valuable in building coherent narratives that help explain and predict past and future trajectories of ecosystems and their component entities.
Students are exposed to analytical methods derived from cultural anthropology that offer new insights into the social foundations of - and impediments to - entrepreneurship, innovation, science, risk aversion, failure avoidance, software and IT adoption. The course aims to move beyond today's tired narratives focused on ‘startups’, ‘venture capital’ and ‘digital transformation’ to reveal the underlying family structures and inheritance traditions that can heavily influence ecosystem emergence patterns, growth trajectories and performance. Lessons from Asia are also introduced in an effort to identify new ways forward for Europe and the United States.

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Schedule 2022 - Year Twelve

Ukraine & Russia - 2015

European Tech Media

Poland & Austria - 2015

UK & Croatia - 2014

Angry Birds & Prezi - 2013

European Market Entry