Application of Digital Ecosystems in health domain

Abstract

Digital ecosystems (DES) have recently been introduced into the computer and information societies. A digital ecosystem is the dynamic and synergetic complex of Digital Communities consisting of interconnected, interrelated and interdependent digital species situated in a digital environment, that interact as a functional unit and are linked together through actions, information and transaction flows. Digital ecosystems integrate various cutting-edge technologies including ontologies, agent-based and self-organizing systems, swarm intelligence, ambient intelligence, data mining etc. The synergetic effects of these methodologies results in a more efficient, effective, reliable and secure system. The application of DES within the health domain would transform the way in which health information is created, stored, accessed, used, managed, analyzed and shared, and would bring an innovative breakthrough within health domain. In this paper, we illustrate how the DES design methodology can be implemented within the health domain. We focus on the key factors associated with the DES design. The design methodology framework allows better control over the design process and serves as a navigating tool during the digital health ecosystems design.