Connecting Complex Ecosystems: The Craft of Making “Collaboration” Tangible

“Collaboration” has become a default recommendation across the impact ecosystem. Conference panels call for more of it, strategy documents reference it in every set of recommendations, and funders request it in proposals. Yet in practice, collaboration often stalls after awareness-raising or informal networking.

At Caribou, we have found that connection needs to be accompanied by intention and facilitation. This type of connection often means building the bridge between two or more ecosystems.

For almost a decade, our organization has operated between two communities that rarely share the same rooms: the satellite data and Earth Observation (EO) industry, and the international development and climate ecosystems. Each is distinctly mission-driven, and each uses language, incentives, and timelines that are difficult for the other to navigate.

Here we draw on our Space & Climate portfolio, but the pattern extends to other areas of our work, such as innovation ecosystems. We know that collaboration is needed; the question now is how to make it operational.

Connecting “Communities of Practice” can unfold in a variety of ways, with differing levels of structure and formality and different end goals. The Alliance for Inclusive AI is an example of a structured, multi-actor effort with defined governance and a shared positioning and approach to considering how to build responsible AI solutions. In many of our client projects, we host events to physically bring people together. For example, our Live Learning events immerse executives in digital markets to explore how digital infrastructure is built and develops into thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Conversely, much of our Space & Climate work has been less formal, bringing together actors who can collectively accelerate the adoption of a solution, influence investment decisions, and shape policy. We recognize that EO specialists and development practitioners have developed different ways of recognizing expertise, different standards for what counts as good evidence, and different instincts about what problems are worth solving. This is why simply putting space agencies, commercial data providers, development finance institutions, urban planners, and climate practitioners in the same room doesn’t automatically produce collaboration. While they may share a goal, they do not yet share a roadmap. Participants may still operate independently, but with shared alignment and momentum. 

To describe this in sociological terms, Caribou takes on what Wenger calls the role of a “knowledge broker” (between distinct communities of practice) or what Callon calls a “translator,” building connections between groups that Bateson would recognize as distinct ecosystems, each with its own logic of knowing. The specific term matters less than the principle: we are bridging communities rather than combining or subsuming them.

Several shifts over the past five years have made connective roles that translate between these communities more urgent. In Space & Climate: 

At the same time, development and climate practitioners face complex adaptation challenges. An urban planner in Kenya preparing climate-resilient infrastructure investments has immediate concerns: flood risk, heat mitigation, and long-term livability. If the conversation starts with technical jargon such as “spectral bands” and “revisit rates” from the satellite sector, the opportunity is lost. Similarly, those closest to the technical capabilities may not have considered the vast applications for their data and may be unfamiliar with the worlds of development finance or the day-to-day realities of the climate crisis in many countries beyond their usual markets.

In the space ecosystem, development actors are interested in predictive climate analytics, while technology providers seek proof that their data can unlock new ecosystems. Bringing these actors into a coordinated set of pilots, learning loops, and communications can accelerate both impact and revenue.

For space agencies, demonstrating commercial and social return strengthens the case for continued public investment. For development institutions, access to cutting-edge data reduces risk in infrastructure and climate adaptation planning. Grant funding frequently plays a catalytic role in these collaborations by allowing first-time adoption, lowering risk, and generating evidence.

Mobile technology adoption in development was intuitive. Growing proportions of the population  have a phone and the ability to make mobile payments, and to access agricultural advice or health information. Compared to other solutions, satellite technology can feel abstract and technical. That gap is where translation becomes essential.

Translation is not a metaphor: it is work that happens in rooms, workshops, and design sessions. And Caribou’s role as a knowledge broker doesn’t simply convey meaning between communities; here, we actively reconstruct each party’s interests so that cooperation becomes the logical outcome for everyone involved. By reframing a situation, the broker becomes a necessary passage point for each actor to reach their own goals and goes beyond neutral facilitation. By reframing an urban planner’s infrastructure challenge in terms a satellite provider can respond to, and simultaneously reframing the satellite provider’s technical capabilities in terms a development funder can act on, this connector role goes beyond neutral facilitation to become active and strategic.

In a typical engagement, Caribou may convene EO specialists alongside development agencies and local government officials. Our role is to ensure that:

We ask questions that others often skip: What decision will this data actually inform? How frequently does data need to be updated? Who will interpret data into insights? Is there a budget for long-term access to this data once grant funding ends?

This role of translator also means testing assumptions. Some proposed applications are unrealistic given current data constraints. Some problems are framed too narrowly and miss where satellite data adds the most value. Reframing early prevents disappointment later.

Translation extends beyond technical dialogue. Many space technology companies rely initially on grant-funded pilots. The translator’s role is to support them in thinking through pathways to market: who will pay, what value might EO data bring, and what evidence of impact can we offer to help decision-makers to find the budgets? Sitting at the center of an ecosystem means exposure to multiple actors, from impact investors to development finance stakeholders, enabling us to connect technical innovation to viable demand.

Technical communities often assume that if the data exists, value is self-evident. In reality, value must be narrated. Development practitioners need evidence framed in terms of outcomes: improved targeting, reduced losses, better adaptation strategies. They also need clarity on procurement, integration, and long-term sustainability. Conversely, technology providers benefit from understanding user requirements in depth. Without this understanding, products are built in search of a market.

We see our role as situating ourselves across communities. This may mean connecting:

Facilitating connection is less about hosting events and more about structured matchmaking, facilitated dialogue, and strategic communications. Tools such as curated knowledge products, targeted briefings, and narrative framing translate between sectors that rarely read each other’s reports.

For example, for European microbusinesses to thrive in the digital age, they require access to the right tools and services to grow. This means that the innovation ecosystem (startups, accelerators, etc) needs to operate in an enabling policy environment. To facilitate this, as part of the Mastercard Strive EU Program, we gathered policymakers, experts, and business leaders in Europe to bridge the gap between small business ambition and the practical support needed to navigate the transition to a more digital, lower-carbon economy, using research to back these in-room discussions. 

Another example is Live Learning, a curated, in-market immersive experience that reveals alternative digital ecosystems to senior decision-makers so that they can think beyond the limits of their own. These are five-day trips that take central banks, mobile operators, donors, and investors into new markets to spend time with local policymakers, startups, and everyday users. 

The sector does not lack statements calling for more collaboration, but mechanisms that convert those statements into programs with budgets, governance, and learning agendas.

Our experience suggests that effective ecosystem connection requires:

As satellite technology becomes more capable and climate pressures intensify, the opportunity to align space and development goals is significant. Realizing that opportunity requires actors who can connect priorities, translate jargon, and design structured collaboration.

In practice, this work is detailed and iterative. It involves sitting in the middle of complex constellations of actors and ensuring that ambition translates into action.The connective tissue in an ecosystem is rarely visible. Its value is measured in whether pilots scale, whether evidence informs investment, and whether technologies reach the people and places that need them.

If collaboration is the headline, translation is the discipline underneath it.