Assessment of development level of digital industrial ecosystems in Rostov region

Currently, digital industrial ecosystems are a form of economic organization capable of solving many key objectives for the development of economic entities in the context of Industry 4.0. However, building such ecosystems and their successful functioning requires information and analytical support for assessment of the current level of their development in specific regional economies for subsequent identification of strategies and priorities of transformation and capacity growth. The study suggests using subjective assessments obtained as a result of a survey of business entities to assess the level of development of digital industrial ecosystems in the Rostov region. Five key ecosystem areas were identified for assessment: strategy, infrastructure, technology, human resources, external relations, and interaction with the environment. As a result of a survey of representatives of 100 enterprises in the region, it was determined that, despite the predominance of enterprises with a digital ecosystem strategy in one form or another, the proportion of enterprises that do not have a digital ecosystem development strategy is quite high. About 70% of the surveyed enterprises in the Rostov region act as the central elements of their own digital ecosystems or are their participants. In general, the empirical analysis showed that, despite the potential positive effects of the formation of digital industrial ecosystems in the Rostov region, the average level of their development is determined by difficulties with both essential components, “digital” and “partner” ones. And if, in the first case, we are often talking about financial and resource constraints, then in the second, we are talking about underestimating the potential of partnerships in the new economic reality.