Jonathan Wareham
Jonathan Wareham, professor of information systems and vice dean for research at Esade Business School, has chosen to define technology ecosystem

Every week a business school professor, an expert in his or her field, defines a key term on FT Lexicon, our online economics, business and finance glossary.

Our professor this week

Jonathan Wareham is professor of information systems and vice dean for research at Esade Business School, Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain.

He is director of the Esade Institute for Innovation and Knowledge Management, and serves on a number of advisory boards of non-governmental agencies. He advises social entrepreneurs, as well as several European governing bodies that inform and facilitate European innovation and scientific policy. Prof Wareham is involved in collaborations with Cern, the City of Barcelona, and the European Union. He has organised key interdisciplinary research conferences including Druid 2013 – the Danish Research Unit on Industrial Dynamics – and the conference has become a leading forum on innovation and technical, structural, institutional and geographical change. He was also involved in the organisation of the 20th European Conference on Information Systems. He has 80 published (or forthcoming) papers in journals as diverse as MIS Quarterly, Organization Science, Decision Sciences, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

His research focuses on technology platforms such as Android and Apple as well as other software ecosystems. Specifically, he investigates their appropriate governance; structures and rules that simultaneously enable stability and ability to generate new solutions. He considers their financial sustainability, scalability and quality control. He is currently co-editing a special issue of MIS Quarterly on ICT and societal challenges which will highlight the use of technologies to address social challenges, focusing on the intersection of technological and sociological ecosystems.

Prof Wareham has chosen to define technology ecosystem.

Why Prof Wareham thinks it is important to understand technology ecosystems

“For many high-tech companies, it takes more than just good products to dominate their markets,” says Prof Wareham, adding that a vibrant ecosystem of app developers and service providers will enhance the user experience. He says a technology ecosystem can enhance the portfolio of product options across different countries and specialisations.

However, he points out that cultivating the controlling such an ecosystem is a difficult task that requires the right kind of governance.

To find out more about technology ecosystems click on the linked terms.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Reuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments section

Follow the topics in this article

Comments