Web ecosystems often rely primarily on economic incentives to mobilize its participants. Platforms of some sort are usually involved in catalyzing and growing web ecosystems, but the platform developer often tries to expand participants' abilities to work with each other rather than tightly specifying what they can and cannot do.
Consider the differences between Apple's (AAPL) iOS app store to Google's (GOOG) Android marketplace. Apple's app platform, though highly profitable, does not constitute a web ecosystem. Apple's structured development regulations and rigorous screening process limit the scope for experimentation and require a significant level of interaction between the platform developer (Apple) and the participants. It offers the benefit of more reliability for its users and an adherence to certain quality standards.
By contrast, the largely open Android platform does represent a web ecosystem. Android offers more freedom for developers to experiment and test potential applications. The relaxed and flexible structure means that a greater number of "amateur" applications are available, but it also creates many opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
Though many of today's examples come from technology companies, the applicability of web ecosystems extends further than this domain. Consider the story of Malcolm McLean, a truck driver in the 1950s. After seeing the need for greater coordination between different groups working in shipping, McLean developed a standardized shipping container and made the standards available industry-wide. By encouraging port authorities, shippers, and crane companies to invest in new equipment and practices to support this standard, McLean, much like Microsoft, was able to speed up adoption and quickly reshape the global industry.
We expect these web ecosystems to become more prevalent in the future. Big Data, for example, may become fertile ground for new web ecosystems. As certain companies accumulate richer and more detailed profiles of customer behavior, these bits of data can be used to create a "platform" that participants can use to develop innovative products and services. Government 2.0 projects, which make available data accumulated by various government agencies, represent another promising web ecosystem.
Web ecosystems have meaningful implications for many industries today. For starters, we would single out health care, financial services, media, and the energy industries ripe for disruption. But let's not stop there. Is your industry ripe for change at this scale? What would a web ecosystem need to look like in your field? Like stumbling across an ornate and resilient spider web, the results might surprise you.
