Top 10 Predictions for the Future of Industry Ecosystems

Organizations are looking to expand their industry ecosystems as the next phase of digital transformation, building upon the investments that they have made in recent years. They realize that opportunities, disruptions, and delivering upon customer needs quickly with a high level of quality are complex pursuits. And that having a flexible industry ecosystem of partners, and an on-demand set of talent, resources, and capabilities, is an important element of the digital-first organization and necessary to support the resource-constrained organization.

IDC’s survey data shows that CEOs and executive leadership recognize the critical supporting role that industry ecosystem partners play in ensuring the growth and stability of their businesses. Examples of shared data and insight, shared applications, and shared operations and expertise will continue to abound across every industry to facilitate innovation, ensure safety and quality, and engage more closely with customers, consumers, citizens, and patients so that needs are met quickly. The first steps have been taken by many organizations to expand their industry ecosystems, establishing a network of capability, capacity, support, expertise, and knowledge that can be scaled up and down as required.

"Extending and opening innovation, collaboration, and operation with partners across an ecosystem inside and outside any given industry has become a critical strategy for executives and their organizations. The world and each industry landscape are too complex, dynamic, and disruptive for any one organization to address on its own - the pace of innovation makes it difficult for organizations to keep up. As such, every organization needs an external source of data, insights, applications, operations, and expertise to complement and grow their business. Expansion, collaboration, and innovation with industry ecosystems has become the next phase of digital transformation for every organization," said Jeffrey Hojlo, research vice president at Future of Industry Ecosystems.

IDC's 2023 Future of Industry Ecosystems predictions guide organizations into taking the next step by incorporating partners from outside the core industry, learning best practices, and adding assets, resources, and knowledge that may not be present within their core industry.

Prediction 1: By the end of 2023, organizations that share data, applications, or operations with their ecosystem partners through joint ventures will increase profitability by 5 percentage points.

Prediction 2: By 2028, consortium-based DAOs will be the de facto standard for complex industry ecosystem ventures that involve a combination of process, application, and data sharing for new revenue growth.

Prediction 3: By 2025, 60% of intercompany shared applications available on industry clouds will be built on blockchain technology, enabling a robust Web3 foundation for industry ecosystem activities.

Prediction 4: By 2024, although 80% of global organizations will leverage on-demand resources in industry ecosystems to improve supply chain logistics, only 40% will improve profitability.

Prediction 5: By the end of 2026, 40% of G20 governments will promote the global data economy through funding of technology infrastructure, enablement of legal provisions, and active participation in data spaces.

Prediction 6: By 2025, 60% of G2000 organizations will form cross-ecosystem ESG teams that are accountable for sharing data, applications, operations, and expertise that facilitates sustainable ecosystem practices.

Prediction 7: By 2023, only 20% of metaverse experiments for industry ecosystems will succeed, as organizations continue to evolve their ability to deliver products and services in a blended physical and digital way.

Prediction 8: By 2025, 25% of organizations that do not share operations and expertise across their industry ecosystems to address talent shortages will struggle to remain viable or be acquired.

Prediction 9: By 2027, 60% of industry ecosystems will be driven by regulations for data, IP, and cloud that require standards to be collectively adopted to ensure digital sovereignty and reduce cross-border risk.

Prediction 10: By 2024, organizations that automate IT processes for the data model and application development as well as sharing across their industry ecosystems will deliver products and services 30% faster.