The New ICT Ecosystem
Implications for Policy and Regulation

An award-winning book that develops the idea of the ICT sector as an evolving ecosystem.

Martin Fransman (Author)

9780521191319, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 March 2010

276 pages, 23 b/w illus. 39 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.7 cm, 0.57 kg

'This book can be considered one of the first attempts to apply complex system dynamics to understanding the economics of information and communication technologies. … Martin Fransman applies with extraordinary competence this analytical framework to study the emergence and dynamics of ICT as an eco-system characterized by endogenous dynamics … The empirical analysis of Martin Fransman confirms that complex systems dynamics enables us to make important progress, not only with respect to standard microeconomics, but also with respect to the Schumpeterian legacy and the evolutionary approach.' Cristiano Antonelli, Research Policy

The ICT sector is crucial as a driver of economic and social growth. Not only is it an important industry in its own right, but it also provides the communication and infrastructure without which modern economies could not function. How does this sector work? Why is it stronger in some countries than in others? What should companies, governments and regulators be doing to enhance its contribution? In The New ICT Ecosystem, Martin Fransman answers these and other questions by developing the idea of the ICT sector as an evolving ecosystem. He shows that some components of the ICT ecosystem, particularly the innovation process, work better in some countries and regions than in others. For example, the Internet content and applications layer of the ecosystem tends to work better in the US than in Europe or Asia. The analysis in this book enables policy makers and regulators to understand why some parts of the ICT ecosystem are underperforming and what can be done to enhance their performance. The previous edition of The New ICT Ecosystem won the 2008–10 Joseph Schumpeter Prize.

List of exhibits
Preface
Introduction
1. Summary of the argument
2. The new ICT ecosystem
3. The new ICT ecosystem as an innovation system
4. The new ICT ecosystem: a quantitative analysis
5. Telecoms regulation
6. Policy-making for the new ICT ecosystem
7. The way forward: the message to policy-makers and regulators
Appendix 1. The evolution of the new ICT ecosystem, 1945–2007: how innovation drives the system
Appendix 2. European regulation of electronic communications, 1987–2003
Appendix 3. Some problems with the dominant regulatory paradigm in telecoms (DRPT)
Appendix 4. A short introduction to Schumpeterian evolutionary economics
Appendix 5. Other layer models: OSI and TCP/IP
Appendix 6. Content, applications and services - definitions
Appendix 7. Why do the US internet companies dominate in layer 3?
Appendix 8. How did East Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China) become so strong in layer 1?
Appendix 9. China's telecoms service providers in layer 2
Appendix 10. Companies in our database by layer
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Entrepreneurship [KJH], Business innovation [KJD], Economics of industrial organisation [KCD], Economics, finance, business & management [K]