Title: Beyond interoperability to digital ecosystems: regional innovation and socio-economic development led by SMEs

Authors: Paolo Dini, Gabriella Lombardo, Robin Mansell, Amir Reza Razavi, Sotiris Moschoyiannis, Paul Krause, Andrea Nicolai, Lorena Rivera León

Addresses: London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. ' London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. ' London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. ' University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK. ' University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK. ' University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK. ' T6, Via Genova 30, 00184 Rome, Italy. ' T6, Via Genova 30, 00184 Rome, Italy

Abstract: This paper shows the early results of new research on how Digital Ecosystems can promote new modes of sustainable e-business practices, for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), using an open architecture for content sharing and Business-to-Business (B2B) interactions in the knowledge economy, and within a framework of open standards. The current e-business practices and technologies do not always encourage openness but instead tend to promote established models of proprietary e-business development based on centralised network and service infrastructure. Governments can promote open developments by supporting opportunities for new entry through supporting and augmenting a market environment for the productive coexistence of large and small companies in the B2B e-commerce domain.

Keywords: digital ecosystems; regional innovation; P2P networks; peer-to-peer; distributed transaction coordination; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; interoperability; socioeconomic development; e-business; electronic business; content sharing; business-to-business; B2B; open standards; e-commerce; electronic commerce.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2008.019981

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2008 Vol.1 No.3, pp.410 - 426

Published online: 19 Aug 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article