Stage 4 - Work Plan and Implementation

After defining the goals and objectives, cames the main stage of building the work plan for the development of the ecosystem. The task force is indeed responsible for formulating and implementing the work plan, but even in the case before us, it is recommended to share as wide a circle as possible of stakeholders, inside and outside the organization. These can provide ideas and initiatives, refine moves and give feedback regarding the various actions in the work plan.

When the work plan is ready, it is important to communicate it to all the stakeholders involved in its implementation, and to articulate expectations from them in the process of implementation.

To strengthen principles such as diversity and reciprocity and connectivity, the work plan must include reference to issues such as:

• Cultivating community involvement - in addition to the importance of communicating with the stakeholders and especially the residents, it is useful to work in cooperation with community leaders and active residents to ensure that local needs and insights are met.
   
• Leveraging partnerships - it is recommended to create or strengthen partnerships at the national and global level - cooperation with other cities, regions and countries can contribute to learning from their experience and sharing best practices. In addition, cooperation with local businesses will help you adapt the move to the needs of the market and create opportunities for you.
   
• Ensuring long-term engagement - sustainable funding models that include public-private partnerships, grants and other funding mechanisms can ensure that the program will thrive over time. In addition, it is recommended to prioritize key winning factors and deliverables - successful initiatives that will give impetus to additional initiatives and the overall process. Finally, make sure that the countries where the authority is administered provide an appropriate framework for the sustainable development of these moves.

The following are some of the common moves that exist in programs to develop an ecosystem of innovation:

• Establishing or strengthening innovation centers - physical or virtual hubs that foster collaboration and encourage innovation. These centers can host the hackathons - a joint competition event for developers with potential investors or with a leading technology company that will host the event and take part in the judging. In addition, the physical centers can be used as the hub - allocating an existing space to groups developing start-ups such as a library, a school outside of operating hours or any other space. Besides allocating the space, it is also possible to develop a professional escort system around it.
   
• Support for start-up and small and medium-sized companies focused on innovation such as cleantech, climate-tech, mobility and environmental innovation. This support can be, among other things, in the establishment of beta sites - allowing entrepreneurs to use the site/facility/database owned by the local authority, to examine the application of the new technology. Building beta sites has a double value: you as an authority will gain a technological solution and the entrepreneurial company will gain a pilot that will help it promote the product.
   
• Creating policies and procedures that encourage innovation and ensure it is properly implemented.
   
• Encouraging investment in research and development activities within universities and private organizations.

Further expansion on the topics and tools in work plans for innovation ecosystem can be found in the anchors and tools pages:

• The corporate, academia and civil anchors
• An atmosphere that promotes innovation
• Shared public space
• international networking
• internal organizational measures

At the same time as implementing the work plan, it is important to follow up in order to create a feedback system and make changes. More on that in the next chapter - Monitoring and Evaluation