Crafting Mission-Oriented Innovation Ecosystems: Strategic Levers for Directing Collaborative Innovation Toward the Grand Challenges

In recent years, cross-sectoral, collaborative innovation within so-called mission-oriented innovation ecosystems has emerged as a key strategy to address the grand challenges of our time, ranging from climate change to global health and fostering sustainable, inclusive growth. By adopting an explorative research approach, this article investigates and systematizes the strategic levers employed to translate (politically-defined) missions into concrete ecosystem practices based on a case study of 15 technology-based innovation ecosystems in Germany. Ultimately, this article argues that mission integration into broader ecosystem strategy may happen at the level of an ecosystem's value proposition, architecture, or reward model. Identifying key levers for designing mission-oriented innovation ecosystems whilst also pointing to the importance of the broader socio-technical environment and organizational dynamics, the study lays out a number of options for practitioners to adjust ecosystem strategies according to their unique objectives and challenges.