WP5 Digital Business Ecosystem Alessandra Benvenuti, INSIEL SpA (Friuli Venezia Giulia Region) ADC Final Conference Venice, March 13 th 2012

Agenda  Digital Business Ecosystem  DBE within ADC Project  ICT Survey  Feasibility Study  Pilot Action  Main findings and lessons learned  The ICT Network Platform

What is the “Digital Business Ecosystem”? DBE is a theoretical, methodological and technological framework aimed at supporting collaborative business on the basis of advanced ICT tools and services. DBE concepts and tools have been developed by large European research Projects, among others:  PEARDROP - “Promoting Ecosystems and Regional Development in support of Regional Operational Programming” (6° FP Research Project)  OPAALS - “Open Philosophies for associative Autopoietic Digital Ecosystems” (6° FP – Network of excellence Project) More info: European Portal on Digital Ecosystems:

Cooperation VS Competition DBE builds on the metaphor of natural ecosystems, where collaboration among living organisms seems to be a winning strategy to fight against external threats. Like natural ecosystems, SMEs and Clusters are characterized by complex dynamics, relationships and interdependencies. In order to survive in the global Market, SMEs should cooperate and seek synergies rather than compete…

The DBE technological Platform  distributed  scalable  Open Source  peer-to-peer  services oriented The Digital Business Ecosystem Platform provides an Internet- based software environment enabling businesses to interact and exchange data through the Web. The DBE architecture: Digital Ecosystem was identified by the European Commission as a way to help SMEs to go digital without a fix business leadership and under a public policy intervention.

DBE within ADC Project In order to investigate the potential of Information and Communication Technologies for SMEs development, ADC Project dedicated specific tasks to ICT and Digital Business Ecosystem:  ICT Survey  Feasibility Study  Pilot Action  ICT Network Platform development (WP6)

The ICT Survey  to assess regional ICT infrastructures and tools  based on questionnaires and interviews  involving SMEs and Clusters of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy), Slovenia and Hungary

The Feasibility Study Looking towards DBE, the Study investigated:  the needs of SMEs and Clusters concerning ICT tools and services  new, collaborative business models based on knowledge sharing and data exchange  existing good practices in the involved territories  opportunities related to new technologies, along with still existing gaps and weak points.

The Pilot Action Based on a simple Case-Study, demonstrated the potential of the DBE technological Platform to:  discover, use and implement ICT services in a common Internet environment  share data through the Web according to a common protocol (e.g. sector, products, processes)  enable targeted queries based on key-information (e.g. “find Modern Housing Companies located in Italy”) made available in the DBE environment

Main findings and lessons learned (I)  SMEs are aware about the potential of ICT-based collaborative business models but should start looking at data sharing as an opportunity, not as a risk  Information represent an “added value” of products  SMEs Websites are oriented to business, not to collaboration  SMEs ask to be informed about good practices/success stories  Institutional support is crucial (e.g. one-stop-shops enabling smooth public-private data exchange, broadband implementation etc.)  Clusters coordinators can play a key-role (SMEs aggregation, ICT services development etc.)

Main findings and lessons learned (II) The DBE is a good framework to support SMEs and Clusters collaboration, nevertheless:  clear business models and common protocols must be defined, involving key-players  the heterogeneity of juridical and organizational frameworks across EU represent, together with semantic interoperability, the main obstacles to data and services sharing. According the EU Communication “A Digital Agenda for Europe”: “Europe is still a patchwork of national markets (…). Commercial and cultural content and services need to flow across borders. This should be achieved by eliminating regulatory barriers” (*) COM(2010) 254 final/

The ADC Network Platform

 a “virtual space” aimed at supporting Trans-national Clusters development  implemented within WP6, represents a first step towards DBE  split in four strategic sectors (Agro-food, Mechatronic, Logistics, Modern Housing)  provides News, Events and documents of general and thematic interest  includes a “Cooperation Area” where SMEs and Clusters can keep in touch and post Announcements, looking for collaboration and joint initiatives Based on Open Source platform, can evolve over time according to user needs.

The Home Page Presents the ADC Network initiative, provides News, events and documents of general interest ….

Thematic Pages Provide News and events relevant for the sector, the list of sector Members and a Cooperation Area for registered members to promote joint initiatives

Become a member Any SME, Cluster or development Agency can joint the ADC Network Platform by providing few basic information… Let’s join the ADC Network Platform!