Sahara Ventures Innovation Ecosystem Canvas, Get to Know Your Role in The Ecosystem, and Adopt Best Practices.
There are different tools out there that can help you to map ecosystem players for different reasons. My favorite tools are the ITU Digital Ecosystem Assessment Canvas and Startup Commons Startup Ecosystem Map. I was also recently fascinated to read the article about the innovation ecosystem maturity which shows different aspects of ecosystem growth. All these tools are very helpful for someone who wants to study and understand ecosystems; startup, innovation, and digital ecosystems.
Some of these tools have been adopted at the national level to help countries plan and strategize for their ecosystems. Smart Rwanda initiative under the Ministry of Youths and ICT of Rwanda adopted the ITU Digital Ecosystem Assessment Canvas to look for gaps and potential areas of improvement in their digital ecosystem. World Bank Tanzania adopted the ecosystem maturity tool to assess the stage of growth of the Dar es Salaam Startup Ecosystem. It might not be the same tool I read in the article I have shared but the context is the same. When we (Sahara Ventures) were mapping the Dar es Salaam Digital Entrepreneurship ecosystem we adopted the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostic Toolkit to prepare the Silicon Dar report.
Sahara Ventures Ecosystem Canvas Version 1.0 will be the third tool we are publishing this year after our DIY Toolkit For Hub Managers and Pipeline of Value in The Ecosystem. The Canvas is helping in analyzing the roles of different players in the innovation ecosystem. Assessing if they are playing their respective roles and proposing some best practices. This tool is still under development. I have tested it for the first time during the Commission For Science and Technology (COSTECH) Leadership in Innovation Workshop which was sponsored by Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF). We are looking to improve the tools have we gather more insights from different people who will be using it. The PDF version of the toolkit is available to download at our publications page. Enjoy using the tool and don’t forget to give us your feedback contacts@saharaventures.com
