Methodology for Assessing Industrial Ecosystem Maturity in the Framework of Digital Technology Implementation

Abstract

The essence of the transformation processes currently taking place in all sectors of the economy, including industry, is increasingly described by the ecosystem approach. Industrial ecosystems have proven to be the models with the highest production efficiency. The effective management of industrial ecosystems is possible only if the mechanisms underlying their dynamics are understood. Achieving a high level of maturity for industrial ecosystems in the framework of digital technology implementation is of particular relevance, and this research aims to develop and test a methodology for assessing the maturity level of such industrial ecosystems by relying on principal component analysis and hierarchical agglomerative clustering. A mature industrial ecosystem gets rapidly integrated into the new technological paradigm and global value chains, is able to compete in global markets in the long term, and has increased potential for industrialization and digital transformation. The proposed methodology is based on the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) methodology for determining the levels of interests in the area of sustainable development of an industrial ecosystem. The proposed approach singles out a fourth assessment projection in addition to ESG, namely the digital maturity. All four maturity assessment projections are proven to be positively and significantly correlated. An industrial ecosystem maturity assessment scale has been developed, including six levels (very high; advanced; basic; elementary; zero; and minus one). The methodology has been tested on the national industrial ecosystem and the metallurgy and mining industrial ecosystem of Russia. The results show that the maturity level of the Russian industrial ecosystem as of mid-2021 is "basic" with the prospect of transition to "advanced." The Russian metallurgy and mining industrial ecosystem maturity level is “advanced.” The key directions for increasing the maturity levels of Russian industrial ecosystems based on innovations in various industrial aspects are proposed.

Keywords

• digital maturity
• digital transformation
• ecosystem
• industrial ecosystem
• maturity assessment methodology