Trends of Technological Ecosystems

Abstract

The pervasive adoption of digital technologies across all industries is a global phenomenon. Materially, the internet economy, which represents online transactional data, may only represent 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product of countries but per annum this is growing at 8 to 10 percent, far outpacing growth in traditional physical ``bricks and mortar'' sectors defined as physical goods and services that are traded off-internet.1 Viewing internet transactions is only part of the wider evolution of how human activity is using digital technology in all manner of social and business activity. Technology frequently enables activities in an augmented way, adding more value to telephone conversations, email, searching for information, or completing a document, taking a photograph, or listening to music. There is a greater than tenfold growth forecast in the next decade for mobile and data traffic alone, and there is a commensurate forecast in the rise of the ``Internet of Things.'' Technological ecosystems are emerging that are becoming fused into the very fabric of society and economies, and these are creating network effects that pervade the digital economy. Online presence through websites and, increasingly, mobile devices has become highly interconnected, forming ecosystems of association and technologies.