The rise of Milwaukee's digital ecosystem

By Todd McLees - Founder & Managing Partner, Pendio Group

The exponential rate of innovation is disrupting entire industries and creating new ones. Technological advancements are outpacing our individual abilities to adapt.

That's why this is an ideal time for a company like Foxconn to come to our region.

I had the good fortune to spend time with hundreds of Wisconsin companies in 2018. One of my key takeaways from those experiences is that while we all know that technological innovations are changing the world, we don’t necessarily grasp how fast it is happening.

Some futurists believe the next century will represent the equivalent of 20,000 years of progress at today's rate of change. Even if you think that seems like hyperbole, consider this: The World Economic Forum released its 2018 Future of Jobs report in October. It found that 54 percent of the workforce will need reskilling or upskilling by 2022. The Milwaukee region promises to be a very different place by 2030.

Foxconn's operational speed and agility is the perfect ingredient to disrupt the mindset of our region and adapt to this new reality. Their presence will take us out of our comfort zone and stretch our capabilities — a great recipe for growth. We are witnessing increased collaboration in industry, education, economic development and workforce development. The impact for the region has the potential to be game-changing.

For your business, the Foxconn opportunity is more significant than supply-chain projections would have you believe. The best way to take advantage of the opportunity is to establish your position in one of the ecosystems already being curated in the region. What, exactly, is a digital ecosystem? Deloitte defines it as "a dynamic and adaptive community of cross-industry companies working together to create new value. The collaborations often focus on defining, executing, and building market-creating solutions."

McKinsey reports that emerging digital ecosystems could account for more than $60 trillion in revenue by 2025. In a recent Accenture survey of more than 1,200 CEOs, 76 percent said their current business models will be unrecognizable by 2023 — only five years from now. They cite ecosystems as the primary change agent.

Foxconn is undergoing a transformation of its own, from world's greatest contract electronics manufacturer to a provider of value-added solutions. A key epicenter of that effort is in Wisconsin. To be successful, they must build more than a local supply chain. They’ll build digital ecosystems.

Business leaders who understand how ecosystems work are discovering new opportunities to:

· Attract and activate passionate communities of talented individuals and organizations.

· Collaborate and execute on solutions that are beyond the capabilities of any single entity.

· Co-develop new value with multiple players, often including customers, using the coordinated power of advanced technologies.

· Create, scale up and serve untapped markets faster than before.

· Accelerate learning and innovation, and the time needed to apply new skills and discoveries.

Truly effective ecosystems turn customers and competitors into collaborators. Foxconn's ecosystem will foster profitability by enabling others to create valuable new offerings.

So when you think about Foxconn, think way beyond the manufacturing of televisions and other electronic screens. Foxconn will have its finger on the pulse of technology, including AI, 8K video resolution and the 5G connectivity that will be prevalent by 2020. That will put us in a position to work together to create new solutions. Solutions that will help others reimagine the way we work. Solutions that will alter the way we educate the workforce of the future. Solutions that will forever change the way we interact in our daily lives.