Feasibility study of digital community through virtual enterprise network

Abstract

A Digital Community emerges from a virtually created network community and is expected to change according to the needs of real humancommunity. An ideal digital community is built on harmonized relations between virtual and real communities, and should be a common place for which its participants feel both ownership and liability. Japan Network of Virtual Companies (JNVC) is a simulated business training program. JNVC provides its members with an enterprise community in whicheducational institutions of all levels can participate, under the precondition that people from businesses in the local region are involved in the virtual company’soperations.This paper outlines the result of a feasibility experiment on how interaction between real and virtual communities is affected by the virtual enterprise network. How does this contribute to a strengthening of the local community network? We argue how a digital community like JNVC can make participantsaware of the resources they have, how it may promote their ownership and liabilities toward their local community, and whether it has an impact on the development of the social infrastructure in the local community.