European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

A NEW APPROACH TO THE DIGITAL MARITIME ECONOMY

Georgios Dourmas, Dept. of Shipping Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, GREECE g.dourmas@aegean.gr Nikitas Nikitakos, Dept. of Shipping Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, GREECE nnik@aegean.gr Abstract
In the maritime industry today we observe various attempts to adopt new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) at all aspects of maritime businesses such as shipping operations, commercial transactions, safety and security at sea, maritime environmental protection. Additionally great efforts are made in order integrate applications and provide valueadded services using e-business practices. This strategic choice generates a Digital Maritime Economy which is related to non-traditional approaches through innovative software application development and use by shipping companies in a dynamic business ecosystem. The approach imposes their transformation in species of a Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE) by adopting a multi-disciplinary methods based on biology and e-business models. The paper starts with a discussion of the literature about ecosystems, considering the relevant theoretical background in creating the digital counterpart of a biological ecosystem. Next the potential DBE concept applied in shipping sector is considered. Finally, implementation of DBE concept in shipping through a conceptual model of a business platform supporting e-services is presented. Keywords: digital maritime economy, digital business ecosystem, e-services, business platform.

Introduction

In the new economic environment, many otherwise great business fail, because the context around them changes, rending them unimportant or obsolete. The new paradigm requires thinking in terms of whole systems - that is, seeing every single business as part of a wider economic ecosystem and environment. The biology often seems excessive to a business analyst, but it serves an indispensable purpose. Biological examples are quite simply the most direct way to explain difficult systems concepts. Each time someone master a biological example, he learns a system concept that will be valuable for comprehending the dynamics of business in the new economy (Moore 1997). New economy is determined from new technologies evolution and ICTs adoption at business processes. As a result, in many industries the traditional firm is being pushed aside by more effective and competitive Internet-based models of value creation (Tapscott 1996). As maritime sector services the demand for transportation in a global basis is a challenge for shipping industry to achieve widespread and effective take-up of ICTs in order to enable shipping companies to become more innovative and competitive in global market. Widespread means that technology take-up actions must address every shipping company according to the charter market features it operates within, while effective means that the actions must reflect the companys particular circumstances and needs (Dourmas et al. June 2005).
Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

Real maritime business cases based on novel technologies, solutions and business practices, can offer important insights into the change process forming a Digital Maritime Economy. In this economy shipping companies are supported by a pervasive software environment which shows a evolutionary and self-organizing behavior in a dynamic business ecosystem. This idea imposes their transformation in species of a Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE) by adopting a multi-disciplinary approach based on biology and business models to develop an opensource distributed environment, which can support the spontaneous evolution and composition of software services, components and applications in shipping industry. The paper starts with a discussion of the literature about ecosystems. The chosen research method is conceptual analysis. By connecting business ecosystem concept to complexity research, we try to bring new insights to changing business environment. Considering the relevant theoretical background in creating the digital counterpart of a business ecosystems, then we are focused on the ICT adoption in shipping sector and how this is fitted with an advanced maritime business environment which is moves towards a DBE. The implementation of DBE concept in shipping through a conceptual model of a business platform supporting eservices is finally presented.

Literature review: Connecting natural and business ecosystems

The use of the natural ecosystem as a metaphor for the capitalist economy is used by several schools of thought. A capitalist economy can best be comprehended as a living ecosystem... Organizations, like organisms, are built in complex hierarchies. One is made up of cells within tissues within organs, within organisms within populations, while the other is comprised of work teams inside departments inside divisions inside business inside industries (Rothschild 1990). Moving one step beyond James Moore (1993) introduced the term business ecosystem and observed: The new paradigm requires thinking in terms of whole systems that is, seeing your business as part of a wider ecosystem and environment... In place of industry I suggest a more appropriate term: business ecosystem. Business ecosystems span a variety of industries. The companies within them coevolve capabilities around innovation and work cooperatively and competitively to support new products, satisfy customer needs and incorporate the next round of innovation. To a certain extent, an ecosystem also includes direct and indirect competitors that, as circumstances shift, may also be collaborators. The theoretical background for ecosystems is drawn from the emerging paradigm of complexity. Its contribution to biology and other natural sciences has been widely acknowledged. The new wave of complexity trying to find applications in various fields, including social and economics systems. Basic concepts of complexity applicable to business ecosystems are selforganization, emergence, co-evolution and adaptation. Self-organization: Mitleton-Kelly suggests that self-organization concerns ability of complex systems to create new order and coherence. She refers to Kauffmans (1995) view on spontaneous order; he calls it self-organization, which is one of the key characteristics of complex systems (Mitleton-Kelly 2003). For them self-organization is a process, where there is no external or internal leader, who sets goals or controls the system, but the events occur spontaneously and due to local interactions. Here self-organization is defined as a process in which novel structures or features arise in a system without the intervention of an outside or inside controller. Selforganization is an ongoing process since it will never have completed its final outcome. Novelty is the contribution of self-organization and it can be specified in various ways in different systems. The lacking of an outside or inside controller is the key to self-organization. It is the self that organizes.

Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

Self-organization appears in business ecosystems very perceivably. The formation of a business ecosystem is a process, where participants are gathered voluntarily and without external or internal leader. Goals are set in local interactions, where companies negotiate and create new order. Emergence: Emergence, self-organization, evolution and adaptation are closely linked to each other, which may cause confusion of the individual significance of each concept. Frankly, emergent properties are the result of self-organization, while adaptation links these properties to the environment, and evolution concerns their long-term achievements. As Mitleton-Kelly expresses it, emergent properties, qualities, patterns, or structures, arise from the interaction of individual elements; they are greater than the sum of the parts. She also states that emergence is the process that creates new order together with self-organization (Mitleton-Kelly 2003). A business ecosystem is always more that the sum of its parts. The result of interactions between different units is something, which no one of those units could produce by oneself. This is especially visible in R&D, where the result is consisted by the contribution of many factors. Co-evolution: According to Bechtold (1997) self-organization means not only emergent order and self-generation but also co-evolution with the greater environment. Pagie and Mitchell (2004) suggest that co-evolution can happen with one or two populations. In the first case co-evolution shapes the individual fitness of the members of the population. In the second case the fitness of individuals is shaped by their behaviour in the context of the individuals of the second population. Merrys (1999) definition of co-evolution is not restricted to biology: When the change in fitness of one system changes the fitness of another system, and vice versa, the interdependency is called co-evolution. Co-evolution is the evolutionary mutual changes of species (or organizations) that interact with each other. According to Agiza et al. (1997) co-evolution is associated with negative and positive interactions. Negative interactions mean, for example, predation and competition while positive interactions include mutualism and sharing. The late anthropologist Bateson (1979) describes coevolution as a process in which interdependent species evolve in an endless reciprocal cycle changes in species A set the stage for the natural selection of changes in species B- and vice versa. The same holds true in business. Too many executives focus their time primarily on day-to-day product and service-level struggles with direct competitors. Over the past few years, more managers have also emphasized cooperation: strengthening key customer and supplier relationships and in some cases working with direct competitors on initiatives like technical standards and shared research to improve conditions to everyone (Moore 1997). As a consequence of this evolution, the dynamic networking of the organizations drives to the dynamic cooperation of the players (could be also the competitors) on the marketplace and the connection of the resources in a system, building a community that shares business, knowledge and infrastructures. This will dramatically affect the ways enterprises are constructed and business is conducted in the future and the actual slowly changing organizations will be replaced by more, fluid and often transitory structures based on alliances, partnerships and collaboration. Co-evolution appears in business ecosystems as the evolution of one company affecting the evolution of other companies. An example of that is the classical case of microprocessors and software. While microprocessor producers develop more efficient processors, the software producers quickly make use of the new opportunities and the software becomes heavier, which causes pressure to develop even more efficient processors. Also strategic changes of one company affect strongly to possibilities of other companies in its ecosystem. This is why managers should consider the broad impact of their decisions over the whole ecosystem. Adaptation: Adaptation is a familiar concept already from Darwins Origin of Species. According to Holland (1995) in biological usage adaptation is the process whereby an organism fits itself to its environment. Merry defines adaptation as climbing peaks of higher fit ness (Merry 1999). According to Holland (1992), adaptation generates structures of progressively higher performance. He suggests that there are three components associated to adaptation: the
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European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

environment, the adaptive plan, and a measure of performance. Adaptive plan does not mean a plan of the direction of development. It is rather a testing plan, a tool for defining the measure of performance. The measure of performance, on the other hand, is usually called fitness. Adaptation can be criticized for the passive role of environment. Adapting always means adapting to something, and it incorporates the thought that the adapting unit is not capable of having an effect on its environment. This is why some authors, use rather solely concepts of evolution and co-evolution. The whole ecosystem adapts to the external constraints. For example governmental restrictions, taxes and tariffs are those constraints, which are set by the other party and are not very likely to change by co-evolution. When the environment changes, a business ecosystem adapts to changed conditions by emergence, co-evolution and self-organization. Gossain and Kandiah (1998) build on Moores business ecosystem emphasizing the role that Internet can have in the networked information economy. They want to extend Moores concept by recognizing the importance of creating value for customers through the provision of additional information, goods and services. They see also, business ecosystem basically similar to integrated value chain, added that business ecosystem emphasizes close symbiotic relationships between organizations, evolvement of those relationships and the significance of brand. Power and Jerjian (2001) claim that ecosystem constitutes of integrated electronic businesses and their formal definition for business ecosystem is a system of websites occupying the world wide web, together with those aspects of the real world with which they interact. It is a physical community considered together with the non-living factors of its environment as a unit. In this definition possibly is recognized the aspects of biological ecosystem, perceiving that organisms are substituted by websites and their habitat is WWW instead of any physical location.

ICT adoption in maritime economy

The gradual adoption of ICTs in shipping companies steadily approaches the bold vision of an ecosystem of digital species interacting with the business ecosystem. The appeal of this vision is undeniable, partly because the ecosystem metaphor has been used for many years in the business and socio-economic literature and is therefore quite familiar and challenging. When technology allowed the use of Internet to perform economical and commercial transactions on-line between maritime companies in a business to business basis a real e-business started, allowing the enterprises to put orders, purchases and e-payments. The first step was the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems, which has occupied a central place basically in the liner shipping business in recent years. Unfortunately EDI was expensive, inflexible and not very user friendly. Last decade many liner shipping companies developed a system, supported by a large and very expensive IT department (Stopford 2000). In addition compatibility for EDIs is as much of a problem as cost. Today, it is common sense that businesses in the following years shipping companies will abandon EDIs for investing more at integrated networks. The second step was the network development via Internet. In the beginning carriers building networks through mergers have found it difficult to bring affiliated companies under a common information management network. The complexity and cost of investment has created a barrier to entering the deep sea container trade. As the web takes over as the medium for handling information the whole problem will be simplified and one of the major barriers to entry in the liner business will disappear (Stopford 2000). Internet technology at present has gone far beyond a mere means of electronic transactions becoming a foundation for applications linked to the core business systems. This attributes the concept of e-business in maritime sector forming a Digital Maritime Economy. E-business technologies allowed enterprises to effectively directly connect with clients, suppliers and business
Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

partners. The connection is recently made easier by the continuous emerge of new interoperability techniques and standards ( ebXML). Several organisations now in digital maritime markets provide their products in digital form, i.e. digital Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC), weather, traffic, navigational or environmental information. Several initiatives (within the EU and internationally) have established Vessel Traffic Management and Information Networks (VTMIS NET). This signals the opening of a growing demand for integrated ship-office computer and communication system and therefore a close cooperation and interoperability between the information providers and the network or digital service providers (Dourmas et al. Oct 2005). XML based integration standards can greatly facilitate such task. All future ICT systems supporting a DBE in shipping can be built to be XML capable. Existing applications that do not speak XML protocols can be wrapped with XML adapters whose role will be to use the native data format of the application to call the appropriate business logic of the application and to translate the results of these calls into XML messages conforming to the communication protocol (Karakostas 2002). As we move further up on the integration pyramid, the role of XML as the integrator and orchestrator of business processes across value chains becomes more challenging. In the maritime industry itself, MeCa (Maritime e-Commerce Association) has proposed MTML, a standard that utilizes the Extensible Markup Language (XML) to encode marine trading transactions. Today modern ICTs have became a focal point for shipowners to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals by selecting and putting the right partners in their network oriented value chain activities. Installations of electronic networks in firms over the internet among external value chain participants and internal departments today enable companies to coordinate their virtual and physical value chains in order to create added value for their customers, partners and especially for themselves (Nikitakos and Dourmas 2009). To support DBE scenario in shipping which envisages the dynamic aggregation of services and organizations, a further stage in ICT adoption is required which exploits the dynamic interaction (with cooperation and competition) of several players in order to produce systematic results in terms of innovation and economic development. The adoption and development of scalable and adaptive technologies, allows new models of business based on the dynamic association of enterprises. The ecosystems are, in fact, characterized by intelligent software components and services, knowledge transfer, interactive training frameworks and integration of business processes and e-governance models. The latter step in the adoption of Internet-based technologies for business, where the business services and the software components are supported by pervasive software environment which shows an evolutionary and self-organizing behavior, is named digital business ecosystems.

Digital Business Ecosystems: Concept and architecture

Digital Ecosystems provide a two-level optimization scheme inspired by natural ecosystems, in which a decentralized peer-to-peer network forms an underlying tier of distributed agents. These agents then feed a second optimization level based on evolutionary algorithm that operates locally on single habitats (peers), aiming to find solutions that satisfy locally relevant constrains. The agents consist of an executable component, so the Digital Ecosystem can be considered a multiagent system (Wooldrige, 2002), which uses distributed evolutionary computing to combine suitable agents in order to meet user requests for applications (Stender, 1993). As connectivity of nodes in the digital world is generally not defined by geography or spatial proximity but by information or semantic proximity peer-to-peer networking can actualize the bold vision of DBE concept in the globalized maritime industry. Connectivity in a peer-to-peer network is based primarily on bandwidth and information content and not geography. However, the
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connection probabilities will be updated by the success or failure of agent migration using the concept of Hebbian learning (Hebb, 1949): the habitats which do not successfully exchange agents will become less strongly connected, and the habitats which do successfully exchange agents will achieve stronger connections. This leads to a topology that adapts over time, resulting in a network that supports and resembles the connectivity of the user base. The novelty of our approach comes from the evolving populations being created in response to similar requests. In our Digital Business Ecosystems different requests are evaluated on separate populations and so adaptation is accelerated by the sharing of solutions between evolving populations, because they are working to solve similar requests (problems). The users (eg. maritime companies) will formulate queries to the Digital Business Ecosystem by creating a request as a semantic description, like those being used and developed in serviceoriented architectures (Rajasekaran et al, 2004), specifying an application they desire and submitting it to their local peer (habitat of shipping market). The DBE is a digital environment populated by digital species which could be software components, applications, services, knowledge, business models, training modules, etc. These digital species, like the life species, interact, express an independent behaviour and evolves or becomes extinct- following laws of market selection.

The DBEs are based on an evolutionary systemic process; they may be composed of three different layers (Figure 1): the generic infrastructure, the sector-specific ecosystems and the instances of the sector-specific ecosystem (Nachira 2002).

SHIPPING MARKET Bulk/ Liner Ferries/ Cruisers

INSTANCES OF SECTOR-SPECIFIC ECOSYSTEM Network of nodes of Innovation SECTOR-SPECIFIC ECOSYSTEM Systems, Services, Knowledge bases, Business models A common support environment gives integrated solutions

SHIPPING SECTOR Deep sea/ Short sea

GENERIC SHIPPING ECOSYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE

Basic service components Basic ICT infrastructure Basic digital species

SHIPPING SECTOR Cargo/ Passenger

SECTOR-SPECIFIC ECOSYSTEM Ontologies, Practices

Figure 1. Shipping DBE general architecture (adapted from Nachira, 2002). Taking account of the specific characteristics of the shipping industry fitted with the DBE general architecture the layers could be: The generic shipping ecosystem infrastructure: a common support environment and a generic basic infrastructure, which includes basic service components, generic integrated solutions and infrastructure components.

Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

The transport sector-specific shipping ecosystems: services, solutions and components specialized for a specific shipping sector according the transport area (deep sea shipping/ short sea shipping) or according carrying units (cargo shipping/ passenger shipping). The instances of the sector specific ecosystem applied to a specific shipping market: bulk or liner in cargo shipping and ferries or cruisers in passenger shipping. The distinction among basic digital species or infrastructure is arbitrary and what is considered a basic component belonging to infrastructure depends on point of view and ecosystems evolution. In shipping DBE some services could be considered required component of basic infrastructure in others are included in the group sectorial shipping or in the shipping market services (Dourmas et al, June 2005). Shipping markets can be divided more in order to cover any shipping market connected with technical characteristic of ship class or carrying units. Thus sector-specific ecosystem can be divided in subecosystems according to ship size (Panamax, VLCC, etc.), ship loading facilities (Ro-Ro, Lo-Lo, etc.) or cargo characteristics (liquid, dry, specialized, etc.). There are two overarching principles that are essential to the attainment of the DBE vision (Dini and Nicolai 2003): Complementing theoretical research with applied research and engineering to produce a working open-source technological infrastructure. Re-thinking complex systems models from Biology and Physics in order to adapt and apply them to software and business. The shipping community, in order to exploit the synergies of the systemic sharing of community resources should cooperate and share the following facets: Technology facet which depends on the investment in ICT. Internet and network computing are the critical mass for digital species to evolve. Technologies as TCP/ IP (Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), languages as XML (Extensible Markup Language), ebXML and VRML (Virtual Reality Model Language), Web browsers, search engines etc. are the basic components of this facet. These technologies combined with high-speed data networking can lead to the emergence of new DBEs. XML plays an important role in integrating devices and systems onboard ships. Such systems typically support monitoring, navigation, maintenance, safety and so on. XML is becoming the technology for integrating such systems with each other (e.g. monitoring with maintenance systems) and with the various MIS (Management Information Systems) that exist on the bridge and on shore. XML can therefore provide a common ship-wide infrastructure for data acquisition and data fusion. The technology facet includes the ICT environment which has been developed globally in order to support communication and transactions between ships and headoffices ashore (an example is INMARSAT organization which last years is developing FleetBroadband technologies based on satellite communications infrastructure). Business facet depends on the strategy shipping company follows in order to enterprise profitably in four shipping markets trading in different commodities. The freight market trades sea transport, the sale and purchase market trades second-hand ships, the new building market trade new ships and the demolition market deals in scrap ships. Because the same shipowners are trading in all four shipping markets their activities are closely correlated. Another serious issue for shipowners is ship finance. The ability of the ship finance industry to reschedule cashflows is of great interest when is taken in conjunction with the cyclical nature of shipping business. Shipping companys managers have to implement information based strategies with regards to resources, processes and people (Jelassi and Enders 2005). In the context of digital environment this includes issues such as optimal web services design, hardware and software requirements and usage of ICT in order to create benefit for all stakeholders in a cost-efficient way. Furthermore, this also includes operational

Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

effectiveness issues, which are addressed by techniques such as BPR (Business Process Reengineering) and TQM (Total Quality Management) under the regulation framework in shipping. Knowledge facet depends on the need for knowledge sharing among species. A shared knowledge base is the foundation for building a virtual maritime learning community with training and competence center. Training and assessment of seafarers issues have be considered by trainers, assessors and maritime administrations when integrating computer-based technologies (Winbow 2002). E-learning offers an on line brokerage and delivery service, linking educators and trainers for the exchange and distribution of learning resources.

The platform development

In order to implement the digital business ecosystem concept in commercial operation of a shipping company we developed a conceptual business platform. The platform implements the concept of DBE, giving shipping companies the ability to cooperate for the common benefit but also to compete each other to satisfy the demand of transportation services. This kind of competition is absolutely different from the competition between companies that operate in an open shipping market where sometimes the death of a company means the survival for the others. The DBE platform provides does not respect traditional shipping market boundaries. In a total different concept of enterprising that represents a new world in shipping operations. In the old world, the companies would primarily see themselves as competing with similar business within their respective margins. In the new world, companies compete to unite disparate contributors to create powerful total solutions and then to establish thriving business ecosystems dedicated to providing these solutions to customers (Moore 1997). The platform is tool for shipping companies giving the following advantages: Networking companies through a common resource pool giving the chance for good practice exchange of participants enhancing the shipping market development. Foment and accelerate the development of e-business in shipping operations pushing shipping companies to modern ICT adoption.

Institute the framework for shipping companies to act as a group (as species of an ecosystem) developing scale economies under the shield of a safe business environment.
5.1 The conceptual model This platform is a digital shipping business ecosystem based on a grid architecture and open source software. The entities are shipping companies which can attach and exploit a mass of eservices provided from the platform. The aim is every single shipping company to select from the platform common resource pool of e-services and applications these that satisfy its needs. The platform provides predefined services but these services can be extended according to demand of shipping companies who insert to the ecosystem. Additionally the platform facilitates the cooperation among connected shipping companies through the integration of all information systems companies offer. Besides platform can develop deeper integration between organisations by promoting IT and linking information systems, the main goal of platform is the development of an IT resource management system which will provide grid administration services and will allow organizations share knowledge and work collaboratively. From the other hand platform will provide to the organizations an environment to create and host service spaces in Internet.

Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

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In the following figure is depicted the basic components of the conceptual model which are resource pool, configuration module and internet space gallery.
User interface Resource Pool Configuration Models Internet Space Gallery
Space Administration Services

Space Administration User Interface

Grid Administration Services Grid Administration User Interface

Figure 2. The conceptual model of the platform The resource pool includes all the potential e-services and applications can be support the open system. Modern IT has developed a number of e-services and applications that support routines and operational processes in shipping companies and which consist the platforms resource pool . There are some basic e-services which are a useful tool for the most of shipping companies, independently their size, because they cover basic operational processes such as transactions, voyage management, maintenance monitoring, quality management, crew management etc. Eservices support transactions either in head office or on board. These transactions demand cooperation between offices and ships in order to support the commercial activity of ships. The configuration module uses models according to shipping sectors such as shipping subecosystems of DBE (e.g. bulk, liner, passenger etc.). The internet space gallery consists of an individual configuration and plays the role of an open gate for every user. Every shipping company entering, exploits internet space composing these e-services are useful to complete its operational processes. Host services allow applications to be executed. Business service providers are the solution to operate transparently with business Web Services of organizations. Software tools are used to support work and collaboration at spaces. One major problem for the operating system is the heterogeneity. Platform supports heterogeneous resources through resource service drivers. Drivers must meet with interfaces defined for each service category. 5.2 Methodology Methodology (see Figure 3) starts from the identification, localization and registration of needs which can satisfy according to shipping operations internal the company but also external cooperating with other supporting agents. For that reason the first step is to be made a need analysis
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European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

for e-services and applications from shipping market. This analysis includes the general demands and rules running shipping operations but also the specific characteristics of shipping markets. This concept assumes the interference of market interventions. Platform must respond to the shipping market demand offering anytime the most popular e services (these are taking higher score in the evaluation process) and rejecting e-services of low demand. By this process shipping companies connected to the platform can exploit e-services platform offers for their commercial operations and simultaneously evaluate the quantity (total number and adequacy) but especially the quality of e-services.
Needs Analysis

Predefined services Methodology based on MCDA. Fuzzy Sets. - Selection Selection of e-services and applications.

(MAKE USE)

Market Interventions

PLATFORM SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS

(USERS) (SERVICES)

(SERVICES AND CONTENT)

Thematic Networks

Structural funds and other instruments

INNOVATIVE ACTIONS

Platform Grid

Work Groups

Shipping Intermarket cooperation Market priorities and plans

Figure 3. Needs analysis and methodology According to the previously outlined framework the hypothesis is: H: To ensure objectiveness in evaluation and rating of every e-service with respect to specified criteria. The proposed methodology of selection maritime e-services and applications which will be provided from the platform is based on the classical Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) procedure. In our e-services evaluation project a panel of experts has to evaluate a set of general and specific criteria for several maritime e-services (eg. e-chartering, e-procurement, e-learning etc.) by answering a questionnaire.

Conclusions and Future Work

Based on the literature review, the ecosystem metaphor has been widely used for describing different kinds of structures and processes. These analogies emphasize different aspects of biological ecosystem and are applied in different fields. Economy as an ecosystem and social
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ecosystem are the closest analogies to business ecosystem, and can thus be used as sources of ideas for forming a theory for business ecosystems. Treating business ecosystems as complex adaptive (or complex evolving) systems, it is possible to understand the principles of their formation, evolution and interdependence in a broader context and exploit the research made in other sciences. This area requires much more research, but it could bring valuable insights for managers in complex environments. As a conclusive definition we consider a business ecosystem as a dynamic structure which consists of an interconnected population of organizations. These organizations can be small firms, large corporations, universities, research centers, public sector organizations, and other parties which influence the system. In different texts, business ecosystem is defined either consisting of several organizations or of only one organization. In the latter, individual organization should operate as an ecosystem, in order to survive. Business ecosystem develops through selforganization, emergence and co-evolution, which help it to acquire adaptability. In a business ecosystem there is both competition and cooperation present simultaneously. Adapting business ecosystems theory in maritime sector first of all we have to take into account that shipping is a globalized market with a plethora of stakeholders acting independently location and time. This characteristic connects shipping commercial activity with networking development through ICT exploitation. Revolution in ICT has differentiated the patterns of shipping operation. Shipping companies gradually use Internet, e-mail and small intranets in order to make some negotiations and transactions which refer mainly to exchanging data (e.g. chartering negotiations, bill of landing, procurement negotiations etc.). Shipping companies, in coping with digital technologies, should be supported to move towards the coevolution phase of ICT adoption acting as species of a digital business ecosystem. Implementation of DBE in shipping can drive to a dynamic networking of stakeholders on the marketplace and the connection of the resources in a system, building a community that shares business, knowledge and infrastructure. The new perspective about digital maritime market can be formulated through the conceptual model of maritime business platform which is proposed. The goal is platform act as an ecosystem where the software can increase the efficiency of shipping markets without detracting from the effectiveness of shipping companies which specialize in their marketplace. Thus, platform can help shipping companies by bringing access to resources not available inside company or shipping sector where company operates and by providing a new vision for design, production and support of Information Systems that ends up in a new generation of software applications and business processes. Over the last years a lot of researches are oriented to DBE concept, a scientific community has emerged and the first technological solutions have been built. As maritime industries consist a globalized market, DBE implication is a great challenge for managers and shipowners to response. The ICT evolution permits today broadband satellite telecommunications supporting the integration between maritime companies ashore and vessels. Under DBE point of view shipping companies ensuring high speed data transferring could act as a hub in a corporate network. Many enterprises also would want to design their e-services and applications around the capacity challenges of their remote satellite users, having the same access to email, supply chain management, enterprise resource planning and internal documentation as land-based offices. This new maritime business environment consist a unique field for further research in DBE concept.

References
Agiza H.N., Elettreby M.F. and Ahmed E. 1997. On a Generalized Model of Biological Evolution. Journal of Statistical Physics, 88(3/4): 985-989. Bateson G. 1979. Mind and Nature. New York: Dutton. Bechtold B.L. 1997. Chaos Theory as a Model for Strategy development. Empowerment in Organizations, 5(4): 193-201.
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European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems 2009 (EMCIS2009) July 13-14 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Izmir

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Georgios Dourmas and Nikitas Nikitakos A New Approach to the Digital Maritime Economy

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