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

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.