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This chapter examines the impact of smart city projects on the economic and business environment, with a specific focus on their potential to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. It highlights how smart cities create an enabling environment for new businesses, start-ups, and promotes gender and green entrepreneurship, while enhancing urban properties and contributing to the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem. The exponential growth of smart city projects worldwide has underscored the critical relationship between smart cities and the entrepreneurial ecosystem for city prosperity and competitiveness. This chapter explores the interplay between smart cities and the economic environment, emphasizing their role as hubs for innovation and business creation. It analyzes the influence of smart city ecosystems and economic factors on local growth and economic outcomes, drawing on international research and factual data. This chapter evaluates the economic outcomes of smart cities, including their impact on the economic environment, business creation, start-ups, innovative and green companies, as well as gender entrepreneurship. This chapter emphasizes the significance of smart city implementation in driving economic advancements within both the urban and economic landscapes. Finally, this chapter concludes by presenting a conceptual framework that synthesizes the insights gained, providing a comprehensive understanding of the economic impact of smart cities and offering a roadmap for further exploration of this topic.

The unsustainable management of ecosystem services often arises as a result of the non-recognition of the multiple benefits or under-valuation of ecosystem services. The chapter looks at economic valuation as an essential tool in ecosystem management decision-making and policy. It discusses the economics of ecosystem services, explains the motivations for economic valuation, describes economic valuation methods, and examines the limitations of economic valuation. It emphasizes that economic valuation can be a powerful and convincing tool for placing ecosystems on the agenda of planners and decision-makers.

Startup ecosystems and traditional economic development models have historically excluded non-traditional, alternative, and diverse entrepreneurs. These ecosystems often ignore the authentic groups of entrepreneurs and businesses that make a community unique and instead try to encourage only high-impact, high-growth tech startups. By only focusing on this narrower scope of a defined startup ecosystem versus an entrepreneurial ecosystem, smaller cities (and alternative marketplaces) face extreme challenges and miss opportunities for enhanced economic development. This chapter includes a case study of Tucson’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the evolution of the entrepreneurial support organization Startup Tucson from one focused only on startups to a now industry-agnostic driver of inclusive ecosystem building. An account of this transition is provided for review, including the community-based feedback process used by the organization to redefine its goals. By adopting a broader definition of entrepreneurship and supporting entrepreneurs truly rooted in Tucson’s strengths, Startup Tucson has seen more diverse businesses (and ventures of all types) and founders opting-in to the ecosystem, thereby increasing the Tucson’s economic development. This case study will provide those interested in ecosystem development with ideas on how to implement ecosystems within alternative markets.

Impact investing, a type of values-based investing that combines financial investment with philanthropic goals, is receiving heightened scholarly and practitioner attention. The geography of impact investing, however, is largely unexamined, and it is not clear why some regional impact-investing communities are more vibrant than other communities. Regional differences in entrepreneurial activities are increasingly explained by differences in the vitality of entrepreneurial ecosystems, the set of interconnected forces that promote and sustain regional entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to leverage insights from entrepreneurial ecosystems studies to understand the dynamics of communities that encourage and support impact investing.

To explain inter-regional differences in the prevalence and intensity of impact investing, this conceptual paper draws from research on entrepreneurial ecosystems and impact investment to theorize about the ecosystem attributes and components that drive vibrant impact investing communities.

It is theorized that vibrant impact investing ecosystems have three system-level attributes – diversity, cohesion and coordination – that are influenced by the core components of the ecosystems, including the characteristics of investors, the presence of social impact support organizations and cultural values that promote blending logics.

The theoretical model contributes to research on impact investing and hybrid organizing, produces concrete implications for ecosystem builders and sets an agenda for future research.

This paper describes the entrepreneurial ecosystems of three public research universities involved in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Midwest I-Corps TM (trademark symbol) Node. It presents a synthesis of programming, functional structure, commonly referenced university metrics and their limitations in measuring impact on commercialization and regional development.

Based on current literature, university data and discussions with entrepreneurship leaders at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor, University of Illinois/Urbana Champaign and Purdue University, this paper provides an overview and analysis of entrepreneurial resources and education initiatives.

University contributions to entrepreneurial ecosystems can be described with respect to infrastructure and leadership, technology and talent and culture of innovation. Four main university entities are responsible for driving entrepreneurship initiatives. Identification of these entities, their respective activities and their outcomes allows us to propose a framework for analyzing and measuring university entrepreneurial ecosystem impact.

The paper describes the variety of university-based entrepreneurial initiatives believed to contribute to university entrepreneurial vibrancy and ultimately regional development. It identifies ecosystem stakeholders and provides a framework for examining their role and impact for continuous development.

The research complements prior reviews and empirical studies of university-wide entrepreneurial ecosystems by focusing on programming within and across institutions according to four dimensions (academic, research administration, technology transfer and community engagement) with respect to technology and talent development. It describes similarities across institutions and limitations associated with measuring impact. It provides a foundation for future empirical research related to the impact of NSF I-Corps and entrepreneurial programming in academic settings.

This paper aims to explore the contextual role of social-cultural capital in youth entrepreneurship between Malaysia and Lao PDR/Laos, comparing two different entrepreneurial ecosystems designed to identify emergent factors that stimulate and/or stifle the genesis of youth entrepreneurship while identifying similar and divergent entrepreneurial identities and traits among young people from these two sovereign contexts.

Utilizing qualitative-based case study design approach, data collections were garnered from 30 informants through in-depth personal interviews, focus group studies coupled with personal observation conducted via purposive cum snowball sampling.

Thematic analysis reveals a pattern-based outcome that discloses a variety of inter-related factors within the social network ecosystem that stimulate and sometimes stifle youth entrepreneurship, primarily through the active agency of social-cultural capital.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem contextual differences between Malaysia and Laos demonstrate the unifying factor of social-cultural capital through social network in stimulating youth entrepreneurship and unveiling practical similarities and differences that can be used to promote youth entrepreneurial endeavors among varying sovereign socio-economic contexts in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Countries).

This study specifically focuses on the unambiguous contextual differences of two sovereign entrepreneurship ecosystems. Contextual differences may not necessarily demarcate further the gulf of differences within and between two sovereign entrepreneurship ecosystems but, on the contrary, may close the gap through the dynamic role of social-cultural capital via social network ties in youth entrepreneurship.

Ecosystems that support digital businesses maximize the economic value of network connections. This forces a shift toward platforms and ecosystems that are collaborative by nature by applying business models with multiple actors playing multiple roles. The purpose of this study is to show how the main concepts emerging from research on digital platform ecosystems (DPEs) could be organized in a taxonomy-based framework with different levels or dimensions of analysis. This study discusses some of the contingencies at these different levels and argues that future research needs to study DPEs across multiple levels of analysis. While this integrative framework allows the comparison, contrast and integration of various perspectives at different levels of analysis, further theorizing will be needed to advance the DPE research. The multidimensional framework proposed here involves the use of a multimethodological approach that incorporates a synergy of businesses, technological innovations and management methods to provide support for research in interrelationships across platform ecosystems (PEs) on a regular basis.

This paper proposes a new PE framework by constructing a formal taxonomy model that explains a vast group of phenomena produced by the PEs.

In addition to illustrating the PE taxonomy framework, this study also proposes a clear and precise description and structuring of the information in the ecosystem domain. The PE framework assists in identification, creation, assessment and disclosure research of platform business ecosystems.

Because of the large number of taxonomy concepts (over 200), only main taxonomy fragments are shown in the paper.

The outcomes of this research could be used for planning, oversight and control over ecosystem management and the use of ecosystem’s knowledge-related resources for research purposes.

The PE framework is original and represents an effective tool for observing PEs.

The entrepreneurship ecosystem is one of the most important elements determining the conditions for the development of modern enterprises. The structure and tools of the system are the subjects of research and analysis by practitioners and researchers dealing with the issues of entrepreneurship. The main objective of these studies is to search for the optimal use of the potential and opportunities of the enterprise sector in relation to current socio-economic problems.

The purpose of the chapter is to present and discuss the possibilities of the impact of the entrepreneurship ecosystem on the development of enterprises in Poland.

The analysis includes directions, support instruments and an assessment of the effectiveness of activities related to supporting entrepreneurship in Poland. To prepare the chapter, a review and analysis of literature, analysis of programs and documents as well as an analysis of statistical data describing the development of entrepreneurship in Poland were used.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems are an essential factor determining the development of entrepreneurship in Poland. There are visible problems related to the implementation of an effective entrepreneurial ecosystem. The experience and adaptation processes of institutions and organisations related to its functioning make the system and its elements work correctly.

This study aims to explore the degree of diversity and coherence of the components of an entrepreneurial ecosystem at the micro, meso and macro levels in Central Sabana Province in Colombia to establish the strengths and opportunities for improvement of the mentioned ecosystem.

This study uses cross-sectional analysis of multiple cases.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem under study can be categorized as an imbalanced system due to the great diversity it presents in terms of its actors, resources and support programs. Regarding coherence, the ecosystem has not achieved a common objective regarding entrepreneurial processes or the recognition of the strengths of its actors and the specific needs of the entrepreneurs.

The study of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in a particular region has allowed the identification of the strengths of the ecosystem; the establishment of the degree of alignment of actors, resources and programs in the region; the identification of the preference of support and programs for certain types of enterprises with low economic and social impacts; and the characterization of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the province as self-organized but in need of institutional leadership that supports the effort required for the consolidation of the ecosystem.

Unlike traditional approaches in this field of study, this paper approaches a regional entrepreneurial ecosystem from a qualitative perspective through eight categories of analysis grouped into three levels of study: macro, meso and micro, exploring the degree of diversity and coherence of the actors and their interactions in the ecosystem.

Explorar el grado de diversidad y de coherencia de los componentes del ecosistema emprendedor por niveles micro, meso y macro en la provincia de Sabana centro en Colombia, con el fin de establecer las fortalezas y oportunidades de mejora del mencionado ecosistema.

análisis cruzado de casos múltiples.

El análisis de la información muestra que el ecosistema emprendedor en estudio podría ser categorizado como un sistema en desequilibrio, debido a la gran diversidad que presenta en términos de sus actores, recursos y programas de apoyo. En términos de coherencia el ecosistema no ha logrado un objetivo común respecto a los procesos de emprendimiento, ni el reconocimiento de las fortalezas de sus actores y las necesidades específicas de los emprendedores.

La investigación contribuye al desarrollo del campo de estudio de los ecosistemas emprendedores. El trabajo evidencia que en las primeras etapas de formación de un ecosistema emprendedor se necesita diversidad de componentes que generen heterogeneidad. Pero esta diversidad tiene que ser respaldada por políticas, leyes y financiación, para alcanzar la coherencia entre los diferentes componentes y niveles.

El estudio del ecosistemas emprendedor en una región en particular ha permitido: (a) conocer las fortalezas del ecosistema, (b) conocer el grado de alineación de actores, recursos y programas en la región (c) identificar la preferencia de los apoyos y programas por cierto tipo de emprendimientos de bajo impacto económico y social, (d) el ecosistema emprendedor de la provincia se ha caracterizado por su autoorganización pero resulta evidente la necesidad de un liderazgo institucional que articule los esfuerzos para la consolidación del ecosistema.

Explorar o grau de diversidade e coerência dos componentes do ecossistema empresarial em níveis micro, meso e macro na província de Sabana Centro na Colômbia, com a finalidade de estabelecer os pontos fortes e oportunidades de melhoria do referido ecossistema.

Análise cruzada de casos múltiplos.

A análise das informações mostra que o ecossistema empreendedor em estudo pode ser categorizado como um sistema em desequilíbrio, devido à grande diversidade que apresenta em termos de seus atores, recursos e programas de apoio. Em termos de coerência, o ecossistema não alcançou um objetivo comum em relação aos processos de empreendedorismo, nem o reconhecimento dos pontos fortes de seus atores e as necessidades específicas dos empreendedores.

A pesquisa contribui para o desenvolvimento do campo de estudo dos ecossistemas empresariais. O trabalho mostra que nos estágios iniciais de formação de um ecossistema empreendedor é necessária a diversidade de componentes que geram heterogeneidade. Mas esta diversidade tem que ser apoiada por políticas, leis e financiamento, para alcançar a coerência entre os diferentes componentes e níveis.

O estudo do ecossistema empreendedor em uma determinada região permitiu: (a) conhecer os pontos fortes do ecossistema, (b) conhecer o grau de alinhamento dos atores, recursos e programas na região (c) identificar a preferência de apoios e programas para determinados tipos de empreendimentos de baixo impacto econômico e social, (d) o ecossistema empreendedor da província tem se caracterizado por sua auto-organização, mas a necessidade de uma liderança institucional que articule esforços para consolidar o ecossistema é evidente.

This paper is in two parts. The purpose of the first part was to explore the basis for the creation of an agentic ecology theory that could provide a generic multidisciplinary context-free manifold that can be applied to specific domains and contexts. As an element of this, it explored the relationship between agency and its agents (at various foci) and the nature of agency ecologies. It also explored the relationship between viability and sustainability. In this second part, the purpose is to create an agency model that will recognise the analytical and decision-making attributes of the viability–sustainability relationship by centring on the modelling a socioeconomic ecosystem and a social disciplinary species model.

Agency theory will be used to model a generic agency ecology and its environment of subordinate elements – especially those subordinates that can be used as amenities to satisfy the needs to agency development. Part 1 of the paper took a tour of concepts relevant to the representation of ecosystem structures and their application. Part 2 will centre on delivering a schema capable of embracing agency ecology from which applications may derive.

It is shown agency theory is not only a modelling schema but can also provide diagnosis to examine the condition of, or for locating problems within, an agency in its ecosystem environment. This is illustrated within a socioeconomic context.

The paper is conceptual in nature, without any to diagnose any substantive issues within the socio-economic context.

A generalized agency ecology approach is proposed over this two-part paper that is novel through the use of 3rd order cybernetics.