Open Ecosystem Research Articles

Digital ecosystem structure formation depending on the archetype of distribution network participants

PurposeFundamental changes in economic relations, instability of the market environment in which enterprises operate and increased intensity of competitive influences to obtain better business conditions emphasize the importance of the nature of interaction for all participants of business processes in the distribution channel and the success of the chosen business structure. This circumstance determines the expansion of the content of the ecosystem approach to the organization of enterprise activities and the clarification of the participants' roles in such systems. The purpose of the study is to identify the key features and differences in business models of digital ecosystem participants that are critical to shaping the value of the distribution system.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, within the framework of the theoretical component, the authors analyze conceptual and empirical articles contained in the Web of Science database and also rely on information obtained from the study of articles by Russian academicians in specialized journals, monographs and conference abstracts. Using the method of content analysis, data on enterprises were collected and generalized into cases, which made it possible to propose possible classification properties of enterprise archetypes within the digital ecosystem and to determine the general properties of the objects under study and their interrelations.FindingsThe systematization of results allows us to present a co-competitive activity model for ecosystem participants, depending on their archetype, where they are segmented according to the dominant principle of role and activity within the system. From a practical point of view, the considered classification of the archetypes of recipient enterprises and their economic relations make it possible to structurally visualize a digital ecosystem, which significantly reduces the distance between the consumer of the product/service, the manufacturer and the seller. This reduces the time of delivery and waiting as well as the time to find a suitable option making the market more perfect. The proposed conceptual framework indicates the interdependence of the development of all participants in the product distribution and proves that successful business models take part in the market expansion. Finally, the authors' systematic review of the academic literature results in identifying certain promising directions for future research based on the consideration of open ecosystems with transparent infrastructure.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are limited by the authors' sample data and the case study approach. The study does not show the further evolution of the digital ecosystem depending on the set and configurations of ecosystem participants. The authors introduce a possible new classification of archetypes of ecosystem participants and a co-competitive activity model for ecosystem participants depending on these archetypes.Practical implicationsFrom a practical point of view, the considered classification of the archetypes of recipient enterprises and their economic relations make it possible to structurally visualize a digital ecosystem, which significantly reduces the distance between the consumer of the product/service, the manufacturer and the seller.Originality/valueFrom a practical point of view, the considered classification of the archetypes of recipient enterprises and their economic relations makes it possible to structurally visualize a digital ecosystem, which significantly reduces the distance between the consumer of the product or service and the manufacturer or the seller. This reduces the time of delivery and waiting as well as the time to find a suitable option making the market more perfect in this respect.

Fire‐ and herbivory‐driven consumer control in a savanna‐like temperate wood‐pasture: An experimental approach

Abstract Fire and herbivory are fundamental top‐down processes, structuring grass–tree ratios in ecosystems across a diversity of climates. Both are plant consumers that can strongly control the recruitment of woody seedlings and saplings to taller height classes. Without consumer control, many grass‐dominated ecosystems would convert into woodlands or forests. While extensively studied in savannas, few have explored the effects of these disturbance regimes on woody recruitment under temperate conditions. We exposed saplings of five common European tree species to fire and herbivory in a full factorial experiment in a savanna‐like wood‐pasture. After 3 years, we evaluated the effects of fire and herbivory on tree sapling survival and height increment. The tree species used, varying in traits and in expected response to fire and herbivory, were Scots pine Pinus sylvestris, Norway spruce Picea abies, European oak Quercus robur, Silver birch Betula pendula and Small‐leaved lime Tilia cordata. Fire and herbivory had a negative effect on sapling survival for all species except for Q. robur, which was not affected by fire. Both processes reduced height increment of B. pendula, while only herbivory reduced the height increment of P. sylvestris and Q. robur. At the same time, B. pendula and P. sylvestris had some of the highest increments, together with P. abies, which had unaffected height increment in all treatments. T. cordata, on the other hand, had a negative height increment across all treatments. Overall, the combined effect of fire and herbivory was similar to the effect of herbivory alone on both survival and height increment, indicating no additional effect of fire when herbivores were present. Synthesis. Our experiment showed how fire and herbivory can strongly affect the recruitment of European temperate tree saplings on a wood‐pasture, potentially leading to comparable consumer control described for ecosystems elsewhere (e.g. savannas). Two strategies to deal with fire and herbivory were identified: tolerance (Q. robur) and avoidance (P. sylvestris and B. pendula). We conclude that both fire and herbivory may have been important drivers of structure and species composition in open ecosystems in temperate Europe in the past.

Open Source Hardware

Hardware that can be manufactured from free and open source descriptions has gained a lot of momentum. This article gives a general introduction, focusing on electronics and integrated circuits, corresponding open ecosystems and organizations, and highlights benefits and challenges.

Emergence of Non-Traditional Financial Service Providers in the Market - A Threat or An Opportunity for the Georgian Banking Industry

Abstract Each banking institution has a customer-oriented strategic plan, although the sudden emergence of competition does not allow them to relax. The explosion of new technologies and the rise in consumer demand have been putting pressure on banks since the 2008 recession. Retail banking customers are constantly expecting new, improved, affordable, convenient continuous service from the bank. In an environment of increasingly competitive, innovative financial services, banks need to be able to maintain not only customers but also brand awareness. The emergence of non-traditional financial service providers in the market such as FinTech, NEO Banks, Challenger Banks, BigTech, which reduces the relationship between banks and their customers, completely changes the banking industry. Today we face a new open ecosystem of consumers, traditional banks, FinTech and BigTech companies, regulators, developers, non-banking firms and other players, with customers at the center. Banks will have to significantly change their commercial and operating models to retain customers and remain active players in the market. The presented paper examines the development trends of new players in the financial industry - non-traditional financial service providers and the readiness of the banking industry to respond to these trends. The paper is a study of the impact of digitalization of financial services on the banking sector based on the study and analysis of reports of the various international organizations, local policy documents, reports and regulations of the National Bank, the papers of various researchers and their secondary data. Based on the research, suggestions have been made on how Georgian banks should strategically approach non-traditional providers of financial services to avoid losses, withstand competition and remain active market players.

Product innovation logic under the open innovation ecosystem: A case study of Xiaomi (China)

ABSTRACT Based on an exploratory case study of the famous Chinese Internet company Xiaomi, this research summarises the experience logic of product innovation under the open innovation ecosystem from the perspectives of innovation entities and innovation platforms, and discusses how core companies can be more effective in the open innovation ecosystem to realise product innovation. The research draws the following conclusions from the two aspects of innovation subject diversification and innovation resource platformization: (1) The open innovation ecosystem emphasises the use of open subject joint innovation including core enterprises, users and partners; (2) Under the platform architecture, the allocation of reusable shared resources is conducive to the rapid growth of the product innovation ecosystem. In the process of platforming innovation resources, an open innovation ecosystem of cooperation, symbiosis and common development is gradually formed. This research enriches the theory of open innovation ecosystem and product innovation theory. In addition, Xiaomi’s product innovation development model proves that core companies can take the approach of building an open innovation ecosystem. It provides a powerful example for other companies in product innovation.

Cytotoxicity, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of mosses obtained from open habitats.

Mosses are mainly the object of ecological and taxonomic research. This group of plants are still underestimated by scientists in other aspects of research. Recent research has shown that these plants contain remarkable and unique substances with high biological activity. Five species of mosses from a large urban ecosystem were identified for present study. In order to determine their biological potential, multifaceted studies were carried out, including: total phenolics content, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial and antifungal study, cytotoxicity evaluation, and scratch assay to assess pro-regenerative effect in the context of their possible use as the ingredients of biologically active cosmetics. Additionally, determination of individual phenolic compounds in selected extracts of the tested mosses was made. Research showed that Ceratodon purpureus and Dryptodon pulvinatus extracts had the greatest potential as antioxidants and antimicrobial activity. The cytotoxicity assessment indicated that the extracts from Dryptodon pulvinatus and Rhytidiadelphus squarossus exerted the strongest negative effect on mouse fibroblast line L929 viability at higher concentrations. While, the extract from Tortulla muralis best stimulated human foreskin fibroblast line HFF-1 proliferation and wound healing. The research on individual phenolic compounds content in the extracts tested indicated over 20 peaks on UPLC chromatograms. The conducted study has shown that mosses, especially so far unexplored species of open ecosystems, and e.g. epilytic habitats, may be a valuable source of biologically active substances and thus may constitute important medical and cosmetic possibilities.

Synergy between climate and human land-use maintained open vegetation in southwest Madagascar over the last millennium

Madagascar experienced environmental change during the Late-Holocene, and the relative importance of climatic and anthropogenic drivers is still the subject of an ongoing debate. Using palaeoecological records from the southwest region at Lake Longiza, we provide additional records to elucidate the complex history of the island and to identify the changes that occurred in the tropical dry forest during the Late-Holocene. The data showed vegetation changes associated with climate variability until AD 900 as reflected by the variation in grass, dry-adapted taxa, deciduous trees, and isotope records. An increasing effect of human activities was recorded, indicated by increased coprophilous spore concentration, as a result of a shift from foraging to pastoralism leading to further opening of the ecosystem from AD 980. At the same time, the regional palaeoclimate record showed drier conditions from around AD 1000, which could have accentuated the changes in vegetation structure. More open vegetation was likely maintained by increased use of fire and herbivory around the area, as indicated by the multiple peaks in the charcoal and spore records. Since AD 1900, the pollen record from the southwest region showed that the ecosystem became increasingly open with an increased abundance of grass, pioneer taxa, and reduced diversity, which was linked to a simultaneous effect of climate and agropastoralism activities. Our study suggests that the dry conditions around AD 950 initiated the replacement of forest-dominant vegetation with grass-dominant communities over the last millennium, depicted as an open ecosystem at present. Subsequent changes in subsistence activities would have further maintained an open-structured ecosystem.

Open For All: The OERu’s Next Generation Digital Learning Ecosystem

This paper describes the functionality, scalability, and cost of implementing and maintaining a suite of open source technologies, which have supported hundreds of thousands of learners in the past year, on an information technology infrastructure budget of less than US$10,000 per year. In addition, it reviews pedagogical opportunities offered by a fully open digital learning ecosystem, as well as benefits for learners and educators alike.
 The Open Education Resource universitas (OERu) is an international consortium made up of 36 publicly funded institutions and the OER Foundation. The OERu currently offers first-year postsecondary courses through OER-based micro-courses with pathways to gain stackable micro-credentials, convertible to academic credit toward recognised university qualifications. The OERu, adhering to open principles (Wiley, 2014b), has created an open source Next Generation Digital Learning Ecosystem (NGDLE) to meet the needs of learners, consortium partners, and OERu collaborators. The NGDLE—a distributed, loosely coupled component model, consisting entirely of free and open source software (FOSS)—is a global computing infrastructure created to reach learners wherever they are. All OERu services are hosted on commodity FOSS infrastructure, conferring significant advantages and creating opportunities for institutions adopting any of these services to enhance education opportunities at minimal cost. The NGDLE can also increase technological autonomy and resilience while providing exceptional learning opportunities and agency for learners and educators alike.

Book Review - Open Ecosystems: ecology and evolution beyond the forest edge.

Book Review - Open Ecosystems: ecology and evolution beyond the forest edge.

Exploiting data from the NoiseCapture application for environmental noise measurements with a smartphone

NoiseCapture is a smartphone application initially developed as part of a participative approach for environmental noise mapping. After more than 3 years, the database produced from all over the world contributions is considerable (more than 77k contributors, nearly 300k tracks representing about 72 million 1-second measurements, in nearly 200 countries). Beyond the initial objective, other uses of the application have emerged: individually by users for their own needs, by associations of people in charge of the fight against noise pollution, within the framework of educational activities, by researchers for the realization of their own research, by communities to address the subject of noise pollution. As these new applications emerged, the development team of NoiseCapture was led to extend the possibilities of exploitation of these data. Thus, in this paper, we present different possibilities for a user to perform his own data analysis, namely: a local export of data from the smartphone, access to raw data and pre-processed data from the NoiseCapture server, access to formatted GIS layers from OGC standard service. All these methods are enabled thanks to the open source ecosystem, such as Python libraries, R software suite and GIS tools.

Whiptail lizard lineage delimitation and population expansion as windows into the history of Amazonian open ecosystems

Historical variations in climate and landscape configuration are the main aspects known to generate and maintain diversity. Taxa associated with open habitats within broader forest contexts are often overlooked in studies of Neotropical biogeography. We investigated the evolutionary and demographic history of lizards in the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus species group, which encompasses three described species – one unisexual and two bisexuals – restricted to open environments in Amazonia. We also explored the geographic ecology of the group using critical ecophysiological traits as proxies for sensitivity or resilience to environmental change. To that end, we delimited the main lineages within the group, estimated their divergence times, and asked if these lineages have experienced changes in effective population size. We recovered six lineages, three of which correspond to C. cryptus, C. lemniscatus, and C. gramivagus, and three yet unnamed species. We recovered divergence events during the Late Miocene and signs of recent population expansion for at least one of the species (the parthenogenetic C. cryptus). This pattern corroborates the ancient emergence of the Amazonian open areas, followed by a high and recent dynamism during the Pleistocene. Conserved traits related to high thermal tolerance and broad thermal tolerance ranges likely facilitated niche tracking and establishment in open ecosystems during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. Our results bring insights regarding how these species might be influenced, and even favoured, by human-induced environmental changes in the contemporary timescale.

Re-enterprising the unplanned urban areas of Greater Cairo- a social innovation perspective

Purpose This study aims to develop an innovative and comprehensive framework to address water-related challenges faced by communities located in urban settlements in the area of Greater Cairo. It is commonly accepted that such global challenges that border issues of resilience, community development, social equity and inclusive growth, call for a collaboration of disciplines. Such collaboration allows for the identification of synergies in ways that can enlighten and enrich the space of potential solutions and create pathways towards robust solutions. Design/methodology/approach The research process has been participatory, and it involved, apart from site interviews, engagement via a photographic exhibition, during an outreach and engagement event, of the researched sites in one of the academic institutions of the authors. A total of 12 women were interviewed and the expert’s workshop was attended by 12 experts. Findings Social innovation can promote agile processes to prototyping services, involving multiple sectors and stakeholders through open ecosystems. For urban settlements undergoing rapid expansion, social innovation can help communities and governments to build resilience in the face of resource gaps – often making use of advancements in technology and improvements from other disciplines (Horgan and Dimitrijevic, 2019). For the unplanned urban areas around Greater Cairo, input from different knowledge areas can offer valuable contributions; in terms of the project and the study that we report on in this paper, the contributing areas included architecture and urban planning, as well as women-led entrepreneurship targeting economic growth, social and community impacts. Originality/value In this paper, we demonstrate the significance of a transdisciplinary framework based on social innovation, for the study of women-led entrepreneurship as a response to water-based challenges within an urban settlement. The creation of such a framework can be a significant contribution to conceptualise, examine and respond to “wicked challenges” of urban sustainability. This paper also believes that the readership of the journal will be subsequently benefitting from another way to conceptualise the interplay of theoretical perspectives at the level of organisations and the individual to support the inquiry into such challenges.

The Mechanisms for Business Ecosystem Members to Capture Part of a Business Ecosystem’s Joint Created Value

Research into business ecosystems has rarely examined the success of business ecosystem members. Business ecosystem leaders tend to focus on their own success rather than carefully monitoring the success of business ecosystem members, and each member must find a mechanism to capture part of the business ecosystem’s joint created value. This study examines the mechanisms by which business ecosystem members capture part of a business ecosystem’s joint created value in the cases of linear tape open (LTO) ecosystems and how these mechanisms contribute to the sustainability of a business ecosystem. A case study was conducted with a review of both the author’s experience with Sony and third-party resources. We confirm the results by panel data analysis. We identified three mechanisms. First, a business ecosystem member can establish a new business ecosystem on their own through newly created complementary innovation. Essentially, a business ecosystem member can become a business ecosystem leader in a new business ecosystem. Second, a business ecosystem member gains market shares from technology leadership, the experience of mass production, and collaboration with the business ecosystem leader. Third, a business ecosystem member who creates complementary innovations can obtain patent royalties. These mechanisms help business ecosystem members stay within business ecosystems and contribute to its success and sustainability.

Late Miocene C4 Grassland Fire Feedbacks on the Indian Subcontinent

AbstractFire dynamics potentially account for the asynchronous timing of the expansion of C4 grasslands throughout the Mio‐Pliocene world. Yet how fire, climate, and ecosystems interacted in different settings remain poorly constrained because it is difficult to quantify fires and fuel source over these timescales. Here, we apply molecular proxies for fire occurrence alongside records of vegetation change and paleohydrology in Bengal Fan sediments (ODP Leg 116) to examine fire feedbacks on the south Asian continent. We employ abundances of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to reconstruct fire occurrence and δ13C measurements of pyrogenic PAHs to constrain fuel source and grassland burning. This combination allowed us to test whether: (1) a fire‐seasonality forcing facilitated the expansion of grassland ecosystems and (2) a fire‐C4 grass burning feedback maintained these systems. PAHs can be sourced from weathered fossil carbon (i.e., a petrogenic source) and from burned terrestrial biomass (i.e., a pyrogenic source). Alkylated and non‐alkylated structure abundance data distinguished pyrogenic from petrogenic sourced samples. A sharp increase in pyrogenic PAHs along with increases in δ2H and δ13C values of plant waxes at 7.4 Ma indicates increased fire coincided with the onset of C4 expansion and hydrologic change in South Asia. The correlated 13C enrichment in PAHs, 13C enrichment in plant waxes, and increased abundances of PAHs suggest burning of C4 grasslands likely maintained open ecosystems. Our results link fire to the initial opening of grassland ecosystems on a subcontinental‐scale and support disturbance as a critical mechanism of terrestrial biome transition.

Timely Control of Gastrointestinal Eubiosis: A Strategic Pillar of Pig Health.

The pig gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is an open ecosystem in which microorganisms and their host are mutually involved and continually adapt to different factors and problems which may or may not be host dependent or due to the production system. The aim of the present review is to highlight the factors affecting the GIT microbial balance in young pigs, focusing on the pre- and post-weaning phases, to define a road map for improving pig health and the production efficiency of the food chain. Birth and weaning body weight, physiological maturation, colostrum and milk (composition and intake), genetic background, environmental stressors and management practices, antibiotic use and diet composition are considered. Overall, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the effect that some factors, including weaning age, the use of creep feed, the composition of the colostrum and milk and the use of antibiotics, may have on the gut microbiome of piglets. Furthermore, the information on the gut microbiome of piglets is mainly based on the taxonomy description, while there is a lack of knowledge regarding the functional modification of the microbiota, essential for the exploitation of microbiota potential for modulating pig physiology.

Aligning the design of intermediary organisations with the ecosystem

ABSTRACT Intermediary organisations such as technology transfer organisations (TTOs) are an important mechanism of open ecosystem governance, as they support how ecosystem participants search for knowledge. While scholars have identified TTO activities to support knowledge search, little is known about how these activities relate to the structural dimensions of TTOs or ecosystem-level factors. We propose that ecosystem search scope and problem complexity are key ecosystem-level factors that influence how TTOs support knowledge search. We further argue that coupling, specialisation, centralisation, and formalisation are the key structural dimensions of TTOs. We combine these arguments to develop TTO designs that detail the interplay of the structural dimensions and activities of a TTO given varying ecosystem-level factors. Our paper contributes to research on the open governance of ecosystems, ecosystem structures, and the ecosystem structure–intermediary organisations relation.

Are belowground clonal traits good predictors of ecosystem functioning in temperate grasslands?

Abstract In herbaceous communities which host many perennial species, belowground clonal organs and traits remain largely overlooked in ecosystem functioning studies. However, the belowground compartment is expected to play a key role as the greatest proportion of biomass is allocated belowground. Our main goal was to test whether including underexplored clonal traits (in tandem with widely used aboveground traits) improves the ability to predict biomass production and soil carbon in temperate grasslands. We examined the relationships between five plant functional traits (canopy height, specific leaf area [SLA], lateral spread, multiplication rate, persistence of rhizome) and biomass allocation (aboveground, roots, rhizomes) and soil organic carbon (SOC). We studied 52 grassland plots clustered in two Central European regions differing by management intensity. We assessed biomass allocated aboveground and belowground (into roots and rhizomes separately). SOC was measured from averaging five soil cores at each plot. Trait community means were calculated for each trait from species compositions using databases. The most important traits in predicting biomass allocation were canopy height and persistence of rhizome. Results, however, differed for the two regions implying context dependency of the relationships. Persistence of rhizome and canopy height emerged as traits largely affecting ecosystem functioning at the less intensively managed grasslands—likely because of their links to biomass production and plant economics spectrum. At the more intensively managed grasslands, canopy height and SLA were negatively correlated with root biomass, with persistence of rhizome playing a (lesser) role. We found no significant predictors for SOC. Synthesis. This study is the first attempt to integrate belowground clonal and aboveground traits to predict biomass allocation and soil carbon. Findings indicate that the ability of plant functional traits in predicting ecosystem functioning is highly context dependent, varying greatly even within the same community type. Only SLA and, to a lesser extent, persistence of rhizome consistently predicted root biomass in the two regions. We call for a broader implementation of the whole‐plant multifunctional approach applied here, ideally extending to other open ecosystems. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Pervasive and Connected Digital Twins—A Vision for Digital Health

Healthcare is a primary domain where digital twins are being explored and applied. In this context, the main perspective explored in research and industry insofar is about the virtualization of standalone assets—such as devices, structures, and patients—in a digital twin as-an-application perspective. However, in the real world, these assets are often related to each other, taking part in the same processes and physical ecosystem. In this article, we discuss a vision in which digital twins are used to virtualizing contexts and situations involving multiple related strategic assets of a health organization, resulting in ecosystems of digital twins based on a digital-twin as-a-service perspective. Trauma management is considered as a specific concrete real-world example; nevertheless, open ecosystems of digital twins appear to be a blueprint for virtualizing complex physical realities applicable across different application domains.

Vertical Integration, Innovation and Foreclosure with Competing Ecosystems

We study the competitive effects of a vertical merger in a digital industry where an integrated incumbent (closed ecosystem) competes with an open ecosystem formed by an upstream supplier (ecosystem gatekeeper) and two downstream retailers selling differentiated products. Absent innovation, the incumbent sells a superior product compared to the rivals' ones. Yet, the gatekeeper of the open ecosystem can fill up this gap by engaging in product innovation. We investigate the impact of vertical integration on the gatekeeper's incentives to foreclose its non-integrated downstream unit and innovate its ecosystem to compete head-to-head with the incumbent. The vertically integrated gatekeeper raises the costs of the unintegrated competitor to relax intra-ecosystem competition but does not fully foreclose it as that would cause fiercer inter-ecosystem competition. Moreover, vertical integration enhances innovation within the open ecosystem, enabling its participants to catch up with the incumbent. Overall, vertical integration may benefit consumers even when it softens intra-ecosystem competition.

Corrigendum to: A handbook for the standardised sampling of plant functional traits in disturbance-prone ecosystems, with a focus on open ecosystems

Plant functional traits provide a valuable tool to improve our understanding of ecological processes at a range of scales. Previous handbooks on plant functional traits have highlighted the importance of standardising measurements of traits to improve our understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes. In open ecosystems (i.e. grasslands, savannas, open woodlands and shrublands), traits related to disturbance (e.g. herbivory, drought, and fire) play a central role in explaining species performance and distributions and are the focus of this handbook. We provide brief descriptions of 34 traits and list important environmental filters and their relevance, provide detailed sampling methodologies and outline potential pitfalls for each trait. We have grouped traits according to plant functional type (grasses, forbs and woody plants) and, because demographic stages may experience different selective pressures, we have separated traits according to the different plant life stages (seedlings saplings and adults). We have attempted to not include traits that have been covered in previous handbooks except for where updates or additional information was considered beneficial.