Innovation Ecosystems 2025

It has been a pleasure to work with the World Economic Forum on this report and with the creators of innovation districts around the world, who have been especially generous with their knowledge and experience. In a world where urban populations are projected to grow by 2.5 billion people by 2050, where more than one billion are estimated to be at risk from coastal climate hazards1 and where over 300 exabytes of data are generated daily,2 both the need and the opportunity to innovate are clear. These opportunities and challenges are at the heart of Jacobs’ mission to reinvent the places of today for a better tomorrow, through the thoughtful and impactful design of resilient, future-oriented places. There is an ever-growing body of research and inspiring examples of innovation districts globally. This report distils best practice and tangible lessons learned to uncover what truly works in practice – and what doesn’t. While governance has been widely discussed, it is reported as one of the core reasons why up to 50% of innovation districts fail.3 With increasing global competition for talent and growing evidence of the importance of proximity for collaboration, imaginative placemaking and design are fundamental. Urban areas in the United Kingdom account for just 9% of land, while they generate 63% of GDP and host 73% of knowledge-based jobs.4 Yet, translating these insights into actionable urban design remains a challenge. Digital infrastructure, services and data are increasingly critical enablers of innovation. Today, IoT devices number nearly 19 billion and 94% of companies use cloud services.5 A wider array of digital technologies is upending business models and driving dramatic change. Innovation districts need to plan how this digital infrastructure will feed innovation and emerging forms of value creation – future-proofing places, unlocking investment and testing technologies from the outset. This toolkit is organized around three components – governance, placemaking and digital infrastructure. It defines best practice and actions to overcome common challenges. And it draws on case studies that testify to the tenacity of innovation districts: from DistritoTec’s multifaceted approach to placemaking and sustainability, to Punggol Digital District’s integration of infrastructure and testing spaces from inception. The paper concludes with eight key actions that translate the World Economic Forum’s eight guiding principles for responsible innovation into practical steps that innovation districts can adopt to scale up their impact – ensuring the benefits of innovation spill over into communities, while balancing the physical and social aspects of place and navigating differentiation in an ever-changing context. Innovation districts are not just buildings and spaces – they need to be talent magnets in increasingly competitive and shifting labour markets. In a world of accelerating technological progress and disruption, they are catalysts for the next generation of game-changing innovations. Above all, innovation districts are engines for local social and economic rejuvenation – whether that means decarbonizing cities and supply chains, delivering transformational healthcare or creating widespread opportunity and prosperity through the responsible scaling-up of technology. Let’s be sure to build them with purpose, resilience and ambition.Andrew Collinge Director, Smart Places and Digital Infrastructure, Jacobs Innovation Ecosystems: A Toolkit of Principles and Best Practice 4