For the most part, collaborative innovation has been confined to the four walls of the enterprise, whether by operation of law or contract. There are exceptions, of course — most notably the sharing of the spoils of collaboration by corporate joint venturers.

Putting aside the laws of man, it is limitations in our exploitation of the laws of nature that have defined the confines of collaboration. In the earliest of enterprises, only by hosting its employees in a single building could a business promote communication that is the lifeblood of collaboration. Telephone and computer networks have made it possible for the enterprise to promote internal collaboration over greater distances. The pandemic, which forced us out of our offices, accelerated our appreciation of this.

Unfortunately, the pandemic also forced us to recognize how truly interdependent most enterprises are on vendors in the supply chain and otherwise. The coming era of the internet of things (IOT) and 5G networks will expand those interdependencies, as vendors gain increasing access to real-time data from company machinery and, thereby, the potential to understand the business better than the company itself. Join this panel in a discussion of the opportunities and risks of innovation by those vendors.

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