The current business landscape is characterized by its complexity and dynamism. In this context, no organization can navigate in isolation, collaboration is a key element, combining different capabilities and knowledge, to achieve comprehensive solutions to specific challenges. To create collaborative projects effectively, it is essential to detect the necessary parts and, above all, have strategic alliances in place, between different actors from various fields, technologies and complementary knowledge, in which there is a climate of mutual trust in the professionalism and involvement of each of the parties involved to ensure the success of the project.
Data from the Department of Business and Employment indicate that In 2020, Catalonia had 518,883 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 81% of the entire Catalan business community. It is very difficult for an SME to have a network so powerful that it can obtain on its own these partners from fields different from its own with whom they can and trust to work for each project, and even less the ability to detect those opportunities with the most potential to be winners. This is where the need to be connected to a business ecosystem to provide you with these connections and relevant information.
An ecosystem, understood as an organization with its own structure, is formed to meet the unmet needs of its associated members. Members are actually the ones who build from within in order to forge an initiative that provides services that are not only adequate, but that instill purpose and above all, create value. A business ecosystem creates this framework of trust as a central axis for achieving success, since it facilitates the detection and exploitation of opportunities, thus creating more robust business models, both for the ecosystem itself and for its members. This theory is supported by data analyzed in recent years. The figures indicate that this belonging to an ecosystem is related to greater business competitiveness.. The turnover of those organizations that are part of initiatives such as clusters is higher than those that are not part of any (ACCIÓ, 2023).
Among these ecosystems, the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem is particularly relevant. AI has become a key piece of the current technological landscape, redefining all aspects, not only of companies and businesses but also of education, healthcare and citizenship. Having an AI ecosystem is essential for any territory to continue innovating and promote the generation of business opportunities.
AI is a technology with high cross-application capacity with other technologies. In the case of the Digital Catalonia Alliance initiative, the AI community is the most in demand in terms of establishing connections with the rest of the technological communities that make up the DCA, especially with Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT). This is demonstrated by the results of cross-cutting activities across all communities and technologies in 2022, where 50% of total participants are members of the AI community.
In conclusion, in an increasingly interconnected business world, Collaboration and the establishment of alliances become indispensable tools to ensure long-term growth and success.. Business ecosystems offer the necessary space for this collaboration and facilitate the creation of connections and trust between different actors. Having an AI ecosystem is especially relevant, as it plays a key role, as it allows organizations in other technologies to develop, implement and offer innovative technological solutions that they would otherwise not be able to do individually. Thus, promoting innovation and collaboration by supporting the existence of these ecosystems is not only a commitment to improving the competitiveness of the companies that are part of them, but also contributing to strengthening the economy of the entire territory in which they operate, thanks to the creation of a network that is sufficiently strengthened to be able to face, jointly and successfully, the challenges of the future.