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Section One Science
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One of the most theoretically challenging hypotheses of digital ecosystems research is that biological metaphors and isomorphic models can bring significant advantages to the e-Business software development process, to the self-optimising and self-healing properties of distributed run-time environments and service-oriented architectures, and to ICT adoption in general through greater adaptability of the software to user needs. While the concept of business ecosystem is not new (Moore, 996) and the application of biological concepts and models to software has inspired whole fields of research, such as Artificial Life, their application to software in an e-Business context is quite innovative. Similarly, whereas the complementary roles companies play in value chains is reminiscent of the interdependence between species in biological ecosystems, using the ecosystem metaphor to conceptualise all the business, economic, and social relationships between all the private and public sector players and the academic/ research institutions in a whole region is rather more ambitious. Less contentious, but still far from clear, is the role of Open Source (and more generally of a “Commons”) in lowering the barrier of ICT adoption for small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs), the role all these factors play in catalysing sustainable socio-economic development, and what regional policies can be derived from the research and engagement experience with SMEs. Further, the language- based and collaborative processes through which social networks of SMEs can influence their own sustainability in regional economies are not well understood, but ICTs are widely believed to offer the potential to amplify this social constructivist dynamic.