Chapter 12: Analyzing the Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Evidence from the Information Technology-Related Small and Medium Enterprises in an Emerging Economy

In emerging economies, firms, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), have attempted to bolster their competitive positions by incorporating digital technologies, which sees them operate in a broader Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (DEE). The DEE includes varied actors and technologies facilitating digital infrastructure, the Internet, broadband communications, operating systems, and the cloud. However, when it comes to developing economies, knowledge on the nature and components of DEE is limited. Therefore, to fill this research gap, this chapter seeks to accomplish two objectives: (1) identify the different parameters of DEE and (2) determine how these parameters perform according to the perceptions among the ecosystem actors/stakeholders. For this, Bangladesh has been chosen as the empirical ground. Based on the DEE frameworks provided by Sussan and Acs (2017) and Song (2019), data were collected through case studies and face-to-face personal interviews with the entrepreneurs of 10 information and communication technology firms. By delineating the components of the DEE from a developing country, this chapter contributes to the extant literature on digital entrepreneurship and the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition, this chapter bears practical implications for the ecosystem partners and digital entrepreneurs to leverage the DEE components in improving firm performance.