Digital Ecosystems

In the context of the digital transition that is taking place in Europe, data are mastering the technological transformation, disintermediation and decentralization of relationships prevail, contamination and subsequent integration of activities, products and services are pivotal, and hence new players, platforms, become key actors of the data economy. Platforms, data and artificial intelligence are (not surprisingly) elevated to the hallmark of the industrial revolution: new (the fourth) and unique (because while the previous ones were ‘ignited’ by a single technology (steam engine, electric power, computer), the new revolution is characterized by a set of technologies that, thanks to the Internet, are aggregated in a systemic way. New players (platforms), new products and services (interconnected through the Internet) and new business models, centered on data and enabling technologies (big data, data analytics and cognitive systems, but also the Internet of Things, cloud, augmented reality, enabling technologies and advanced robotics), disrupt the market, with an extraordinary economic and societal impact.