Business ecosystem in exploration

A business ecosystem is an evolving and dynamic community of diverse players - majors, juniors, government at all levels, academia, industry, service and supply - who can create new value through increasingly productive and sophisticated models of both collaboration and competition. In the past few years, business ecosystems have had a profound impact on many different industries by using collaboration. They erode long-standing cultural boundaries and technological constraints, traditionally shaping the evolution of businesses.

Mining companies are now facing a complex environment with declining exploration budgets, shortage of skilled labor and the perception that innovation activities could be risky and expensive. In a situation where innovation is key to the survival of the industry, business ecosystems can provide a better way to collaborate – and, collaboration has been a successful way to develop breakthrough innovations before.

Results of this study indicate some evidence of ecosystems having emerged in exploration, but the lack of widespread ecosystems in mining represents a missed opportunity for the industry. What barriers stop them from being formally organized to take advantage of the ecosystem benefits? How do they go about deepening existing connections and align themselves towards this shift?