Preconditions to start and scale digital ecosystems : a study of aquacloud in the Norwegian seafood industry

2020

Digital transformation characterizes a vast number of companies, and increasingly as the

technological advancements with artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things, and 5G

mobile network technology expands the possibilities. One digitalization strategy is to

create digital ecosystems, which companies are increasingly pursuing to deliver complex

value propositions and to develop structures for inter-organizational collaboration that

facilitates open innovation. How digital ecosystems can be started and later scaled is not

well understood, and this study focuses on the digital ecosystem AquaCloud to expand

the knowledge on this subject. AquaCloud is an emerging ecosystem started by a seafood

cluster organization together with Norway’s largest salmon producers. Their first goal is to

predict sea lice outbreaks by applying AI to large data sets, and in the future, AquaCloud

could become something far greater as the ecosystem structure facilitates open innovation.

Findings show that data standardization and data security are fundamental to allow

heterogeneous and complementary technologies operate together towards a joint value

proposition while securing sensitive data. However, without fully understanding how

to design this system, findings suggest digital ecosystems have to start with trust and

simplified contracts among the involved parties, allowing experimentation toward a

functional design. Also, findings suggest starting with large industry players helps to root

the ecosystem in the industry and attract external contributors through its signaling effect.

Then, as standardization and security are established, the ecosystem becomes scalable

as technologies can easily connect and disconnect while efficiently preserving interests as

trust shifts from primarily humans to systems. Furthermore, findings suggest establishing

a structure e.g., an organization which adjusts standards and security measures according

to changing business environments is fundamental for long-term success. These findings

represent considerable barriers to overcome, but for digital ecosystems like AquaCloud, the

incentives to succeed far outweigh the costs. Overall, creating a digital ecosystem shows

signs of being a beneficial strategy if one can manage to establish these preconditions.

Through the investigations and analysis performed, AquaCloud is on the right track to

becoming a successful digital ecosystem, and an excellent case for inspiration.