1. London 29 . 6 . 2006 LSE OPAALS kick-off
Digital Ecosystem Research creating the conditions for Innovation Ecosystems
Francesco Nachira
European Commission DG Information Society and Media
Head of Sector “Technologies for Digital Ecosystems”

2. Digital Business Ecosystems
Originally developed in “ICT for Business networking” (in SME area)
Change of organisational structure (among enterprises) , towards global networked economy
Transition towards the networked knowledge-economy
SMEs : a weakness or a potential for Europe ?
Dynamic and complex business interrelations
More knowledge
Continuous innovation
More specialised resources
But SME companies have limited specialised resources and difficulties
To access to global value chains
To access to knowledge
To access to specific services (e.g. legal)
To adopt new technologies (ICT)
To adopt new and distributed business models and work organisations
Threshold Size and 2 Divides : Geographical + SMEs vs. LEs)
SMEs
But the only hope for a SMEs is to become BIG?

3. SMEs in a Dynamic knowledge-based globally-networked economy
How to reach the critical mass of resources ?
How to cope with the increased complexity ?
Growth Node
Industrial District
Business Ecosystem
Virtual cluster

4. Complexity and new forms of organisation
“… the actual slowly changing network of organizations will be replaced by more fluid, amorphous and often transitory structures based in alliances, partnership and collaborations”...
“…building global dynamic communities that share business, knowledge and infrastructures, develop creativity”
Peculiarities of the EU economical structure
Dimensions of enterprises (SMEs vs. LE)
Historical presence of clusters with diffused tacit unstructured knowledge, skills and infrastructure
Cultural diversity (services, ideas, but also model of business, approaches, practices, …), leading to creativity
But do we have to copy the “best practices” of others ?
Turn diversity & peculiarities in competitive advantage

5. Evolution in the impact of ICT-adoption and in the complexity of the enabling infrastructures:
Increased dynamicity and complexity in business networking
Key role of knowledge (knowl. on biz/soc./econ. aspects)
Increased sophistication of ICT infrastructure
SMEs

6. Turn Peculiarities into Competitive Advantages Shift of paradigm
Engineers: “problem solving” approach: isolate problem, identify variables, make a plan …
Economy as machine
Complexity: Ecosystemic approach:
Economy as ecosystem
From building a machine --> nutruring a garden
From “engineer approach” --> “ecosystemic approach”
From making a plan > creating the conditions
Diversity is a value. Critical mass of creative ideas, activities.
To include in the global creation/production process the excluded [ capacity building + infrastructures ] - technology->socio-economic needs
Processes: Interpretation - Partecipation - Collaboration - Harmonis. of interests
Plurality and richness of: economic actors, subjects, ideas,
interactions, models, aggregation

7. The Business Ecosystem
Create a climate conductive to innovation and development: the conditions for
Developing new economic activities
Attracting / developing new ideas and biz/org models
Attracting / developing capital and human capital
How to create a
favourable environment
for business and people:
a socio-economic eco-
system
Which industrial policy ?
Which infrastructure ? (material / immaterial )
Service & technical
Infrastructure
Governance regulations & industrial policy
Human capital, knowledge and practices
Business
& financial conditions

8. Integrated scalable approach intermediate results
The digital ecosystem
How to provide business networking services, adapted to local needs ?
How to transfer and disseminate knowledge ?
How to enable synergies and business networking ?
How to represent services, but also micro- and macro-economy
(from semantic of web to semantic of economy) ?
How to create a common ICT infrastructure that allows digital components to exhibit behaviour of natural ecosystems?
Integrated scalable approach intermediate results
ICT ecosystem-oriented architecture
Policy governance, actors’ involvement [adaptation]
affordable ICT services
Diffused + Digitalised knowledge

9. The Digital Ecosystem, the carrier for services and ideas enabling
The Digital Ecosystem, the carrier for services and ideas enabling seamless discovering and networking
Who owns it?
What does it contain?
What‘s the destination?
What I offer Which is the revenue model ?
Owner
Serial-ID
Check-ID
Country
ISO Ident
Pictures courtesy from DBE project

10. The Innovation Ecosystems:
An integrated approach for development
to reduce the digital divides
among regions
among SME and LE
to foster local economic growth and innovation; new forms of dynamic business interactions,
enabled by new paradigms and digital ecosystem technologies;
embedded knowledge enabled by capacity building instruments
Growth
Competitiveness,
market & internal
efficiency
Cooperation &
innovation networks
improve
lead to
encourage
provide
resources
ICTs
catalyse
improve
“Digital Ecosystem
Infrastructure”
Ecosystem-
-oriented
infrastructure
make
viable
shape
& foster
supports
support
Bio-Paradigms
enhances
New organizational
and business models; knowledge & skills
Policy
supports
Derivative work from
P.Dini - London School of Economics

11. What is a Digital Ecosystem ?
THE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM
is a pervasive “digital environment”
that supports the business ecosystems
which formalise/represents micro- and macro- economic offers/relationships
that evolves / adapts to local conditions with the evolution of its components
THE “SOFT” SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE,
WHICH MEDIATES and REPRESENTS
SERVICES & INFORMATION (knowledge)
EMPOWERING THE NETWORKING AND THEIR SHARING
architecture / structure

12. What is represented in a Digital Ecosystem ?
software components, applications, services, knowledge, business processes and models, training modules, trust relationships, contractual frameworks, laws and hopefully a mixture of all these
ANY USEFUL REPRESENTATION,
EXPRESSED IN A LANGUAGE (formal or natural),
DIGITALISED AND LAUNCHED ON THE NET,
WHICH CAN BE PROCESSED (by computers and/or humans)
Repres. of service:
biz model
rev. model
comp. model
ref. to Ontology
formalised knowledge

13. The layers of the innovation ecosystem
Economy (business ecosystem)
Structural coupling
ICT (digital ecosystem)
Derivative work from Salzburg Technical University
Digital ecosystem: an o-s, public, distributed, pervasive environm.
transport, identification, sharing, match (services, knowledge)
- embedding knowledge, biz rules, revenue models, ontology...
- spontaneous evolution, adaptation / composition of services, digital content and sw components (from SOA to EOA)

14. Digital Ecosystem (1) Dynamic aggregation of ICT-services
Digital (ICT) Services
ICT service
ICT service
Aggregated
Complex,
personalised,
ICT-services
ICT service
ICT-SME
Inputs
ICT service
ICT service
DE structural services*
Rules, models,
context
Digital Ecosystem infrastrucutre
DE structural services, e.g.
Accounting
Billing
Authentication
Reputation
Decentralized Data Storage
Fitness data
Needs of ICT solutions,
Profile of users, of ICT needs

15. Digital Ecosystem (2) Dynamic aggregation of final services (and SMEs)
ICT service
ICT product
SME
Offers
ICT service
1.Networks of SME
ICT service
Digital Services, applications
2.Final Services
Aggregated
Complex,
personalised,
Services / Solutions
Rules, models,
context
DEstructural services*
Digital Ecosystem infrastructure
To manage the process
- ICT district +
- Sectorial district
Needs of ICT services, solutions,
profile of providers, profile of users

16. Layers & facets of the digital ecosystem (identified in 2002)

17. Ecosystem Evolution 2002 1st Paper - 1st cycle of Workshops
2003 Start 1st project IP-DBE 10M€
nd Cycle Workshops ; Position Paper “Research Vision 2010”
July Int’l Summer School - European Digital business ecosystem
Nov WSIS - Int’l interest for EU models (Latinamerica - India)
2006 Cluster EU projects 35M€ ;
2006 New science: start NoE on Ecosystems OPAALS
End 2006 Initial governance structures - Multi-stakeholder consultation process
Feb 2007 IEEE Dig.Ecosys. Conference (pls. submit)
Mid Digital ecosys. pilot regions : Aragon, WMidland, Tampere, Estremadura, Prov.TN, Lazio, Piemonte, Baden-Württenberg, …]+ Kanpur

18. Digital Ecosystem pilot regions (at June 2005)
Local Business Ecosystem
co-funded by DBE project
joined as new pilot
Potential future take-up
local ecosystems

19. Cluster of DE Projects

20. DE in FP7: Objectives, Main Themes
“To enable EU to master and shape the future developments of ICT so that the demands of its society and economy are met”
ICT Technology Pillars
e.g. Software, Grids, security and dependability
Integration of Technologies
Applications Research
providing the knowledge and the means to develop a wide range of ICT-based services and applications
new forms of dynamic networked co-operative business processes, digital eco-systems in particular for small- and medium-sized organisations; optimised, distributed work organisation and collaborative work environments such as knowledge sharing and interactive services (e.g. for tourism).

22. More information on