Just published! A new Handbook of Innovation Ecosystems

John H Howard, 7 October 2025.

Over the last 15 years, innovation ecosystems have emerged as a key instrument in science, research and innovation policy. This has been a global phenomenon, with marked intensification since 2020.

Policymakers, business strategists, innovation professionals, and researchers are increasingly being asked to invest in, create, or replicate innovation ecosystems, and specifically, in the form of innovation districts, precincts, or hubs.

But until now, a clear framework for understanding what ecosystems actually are, how they function, and what enables their success has been largely missing, particularly in Australia.

The Handbook of Innovation Ecosystems: Placemaking, Economics, Business, and Governance, just published by the Acton Institute for Policy Research and Innovation, addresses this gap.

Drawing on more than ninety international and Australian case studies, from Kendall Square in Boston and 22@Barcelona to Sydney’s Tech Central and Melbourne’s Parkville Biomedical Precinct, the Handbook demonstrates that ecosystems thrive where vision, leadership, and institutional capability are combined with long-term commitment and deliberate system integration.

In a Foreword to the Handbook, Minister for Industry and Innovation Senator the Hon. Tim Ayres writes, "For policymakers like me, Howard's work is not abstract analysis but a practical guide to future industrial strategy." And Professor Roy Green writes, "Australia confronts a ‘burning platform’ of stalled productivity and climate change; John has helped us see a pathway to the jobs and industries of the future."

The paperback edition of the Handbook is now available through Amazon Publishing and as an eBook through Kindle.

At the heart of the Handbook is a diagnostic framework built on four interdependent domains:

• Placemaking is the spatial, physical, research, and cultural infrastructure that attracts talent and enables interaction

• Economics addresses industry development, job creation, and market dynamics that support collaborative growth

• Business addresses commercial logic, investment flows, entrepreneurship, and research translation

• Governance explores the orchestration of relationships, the design of institutions, and the long-term stewardship of systems.

Ecosystems thrive when these domains are intentionally aligned.

Too often, policy interventions target one domain while ignoring the others. In this regard, the Handbook demonstrates why integration matters and how to achieve it.

The Handbook clarifies the metaphorical foundations of ecosystem thinking, distinguishing between ecological and economic framings and indicating when each is appropriate. It provides a vocabulary and structure for diagnosing gaps and designing interventions that build on existing assets and relationships.

The analysis highlights the importance of ecosystem integrators and organisations that connect actors, convene stakeholders, and align resources. Systems integrators, when properly resourced, have a crucial role in coordinating and creating collaborative action.

Innovation is presented as both an economic and civic endeavour. Social inclusion, cultural value, and environmental responsibility are criteria for success alongside business and commercial outcomes.  

It is widely appreciated that Australia's innovation system has world-class research institutions. Less well known is a growing innovation district and precinct infrastructure. This capability is fundamental for anchoring shared facilities and services that provide the translational infrastructure that can take discoveries, inventions, and ideas to adoption, application, and use.

The Handbook speaks directly to multiple audiences. University leaders will find guidance on building engagement strategies that integrate education, research, and industry collaboration.

City planners and economic development agencies will discover principles for precinct planning that emphasise mixed-use design, accessibility, and cultural vitality. Investors and entrepreneurs will understand how system health influences venture opportunities and risk profiles.

Well-functioning innovation ecosystems do not emerge by chance. They are the product of deliberate design, patient leadership, and coherent policy over decades.

For decision-makers committed to advancing Australia's innovation capacity, The Handbook is both a reference and a call to action: to invest in the connective tissue, strengthen governance, and design ecosystems that are adaptive and globally connected.

The Handbook can be purchased through Amazon Publishing and as an eBook through Kindle.