Industrial Intelligence and the Rise of Digital Ecosystems
Industrial software company AVEVA and business school IMD have released their inaugural Industrial Intelligence Report, spotlighting how connected technologies are reshaping complex industries. Drawing on more than 275 interviews with senior leaders across 12 sectors, the report defines industrial intelligence as the organisational capability to integrate operational technology, information technology and artificial intelligence. This integration underpins digital ecosystem adoption, where companies link partners, assets and data flows into shared platforms to enable real-time, data-driven decision-making. Case studies from organisations such as the Port of Rotterdam and Kwinana highlight how these ecosystems help tackle higher-order business challenges, from faster innovation to navigating supply volatility and decarbonising intricate operations. Yet the research also reveals that digital transformation barriers are slowing progress, creating a visible gap between strategic ambition and execution in enterprise data collaboration.
The 74% vs 27% Paradox in Industrial Data Sharing
The headline finding from AVEVA and IMD’s research is a stark paradox: 74% of surveyed leaders identify digital ecosystems as a top strategic priority, but only 27% say they share data substantially or extensively with ecosystem partners. This disconnect underscores how industrial data sharing lags far behind the rhetoric of collaboration. Organisations recognise that connected, data-driven ecosystems can unlock operational efficiencies and new business models, yet they often hesitate to open their data beyond narrow use cases. The survey, spanning 12 diverse industry sectors, suggests that many companies are still experimenting at the edges rather than embracing full-scale enterprise data collaboration. As a result, they risk missing the compounding benefits of shared industrial intelligence—such as cross-partner optimisation, real-time visibility across value chains and coordinated responses to disruption—that digital ecosystems are designed to deliver.
Digital Transformation Barriers: Integration, Legacy Systems and Governance
The Industrial Intelligence Report highlights several digital transformation barriers that explain why digital ecosystem adoption is not translating into deep data sharing. Integration complexity is a primary obstacle: many organisations juggle heterogeneous systems and fragmented data architectures that make seamless connectivity difficult. Legacy systems, often mission-critical yet technologically outdated, further constrain how much information can be exchanged securely and reliably with partners. Weak governance compounds these issues. Without clear policies on data ownership, access rights and security responsibilities, companies are understandably cautious about exposing sensitive operational data. AVEVA and IMD’s analysis shows that these challenges sit at the intersection of technology, corporate strategy and governance. Until leaders address them systematically—through common data standards, stronger governance frameworks and modernised infrastructure—the promise of industrial ecosystems will continue to outpace their practical impact.
From Operational Collaboration to Intelligence-Driven Ecosystems
According to Michael Wade of IMD, industrial sectors already have decades of experience collaborating out of operational necessity, whether coordinating logistics or managing shared infrastructure. What is changing is the role of data, AI and connected platforms in turning these relationships into real-time, intelligence-driven systems. Governance, integration and organisational learning, he argues, matter more than sophisticated algorithms at this stage. AVEVA CEO Caspar Herzberg likewise stresses that the next phase of ecosystem maturity is about converting existing operational value into strategic advantage. That requires more deliberate data sharing, clearer ecosystem roles and leadership practices designed to transcend internal silos. Where these elements are in place, companies are beginning to orchestrate scalable business ecosystems that harness industrial intelligence, not just to improve efficiency, but to innovate business models, respond faster to volatility and align partners around shared decarbonisation and resilience goals.