What is the role of the digital innovation ecosystem (DIGEM) for the prosperity of a company?

How can digital innovation be accelerated not only internally but also externally? This topic from the scope of the CARPE DIGEM project is at the center of many studies.

For the past five years, MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte have been exploring digital maturity, focusing on the organizational aspects of digital transformation rather than technology.

They reviewed companies in the stages of early, progressive and realized digital transformation and noticed a growing gap between more and less mature organizations. Their latest study (2019) found that gaps can often be explained by a company's approach to innovation: Digitally "mature" companies not only innovate more, but also innovate differently.

These innovations are largely driven by collaboration created externally through digital innovation ecosystems and internally through cross-functional teams. Both ecosystems and cross-functional teams increase organizational flexibility. The summary is:

1. Digitally "mature" companies are innovating at a much higher rate than their less advanced counterparts in digital transformation.

2. Employees of digitally "mature" organizations have more opportunities to innovate in their jobs - no matter what those jobs are.

3. Digitally "mature" companies are much more willing than their less advanced counterparts in digital transformation to collaborate with external partners.

4. Multifunctional teams are another important source of digital innovation. Not only are digitally "mature" companies more likely to use multifunctional teams, they typically operate differently in more mature organizations than in less advanced organizations in their digital transformation.

5. Digitally "mature" companies are more agile and innovative, but as a result they need more careful management.

6. When asked to predict whether their company will be stronger or weaker in the future, respondents from digitally "mature" and companies from an early stage of digital transformation show striking differences.