Data control coordination in cloud-based ecosystems: the GAIA-X ecosystem

Value creation in digital ecosystems entails bottlenecks among actors with heterogeneous interests and expectations. Data control is a critical element of digital strategy to remove bottlenecks and unleash value creation in the ecosystem. In this chapter, we focus on the formative stages of a cloud-based ecosystem to examine how actors coordinate data control activities to co-create value. We develop a conceptual model of data control coordination in cloud-based ecosystems by drawing on the formation of the EU GAIA-X ecosystem. Our model illustrates how data control is regulated and managed either within the firm’s hierarchy or within the ecosystem. It shows that coordination among actors across a cloud-based ecosystem starts by resolving data control bottlenecks in multilateral agreements before engaging in innovative activities that lead to value co-creation. Our model contributes to research on digital strategy by looking at data control coordination as a precursor to generating complementarities between ecosystem actors. This raises important implications for data strategies in digital ecosystems.