Data ecosystems in IS research: The road so far, where we are now, and the road ahead. Electron Markets

Research on data ecosystems has evolved significantly. What began as a primarily conceptual exploration of data sharing in complex networks (Oliveira et al., 2019) has become an established field of research in the Information Systems (IS) discipline. The shared exploitation of data in ecosystems—whether industrial, personal, or other data of joint interest—is now a pivotal endeavour for many organizations, propelled by rising regulatory demands and intrinsic business needs (Möller et al., 2024). Over the past decades, data has traversed from (formerly analogue) administrative tools into a versatile resource that serves as a conduit for organizational opportunities, deeply rooted in its nature as a semiotic artifact (Alaimo & Kallinikos, 2021, p. 20; Legner et al., 2020), i.e., an artifact that codifies real-world meaning into abstract (digital) descriptions of reality (Ackoff, 1989; Alaimo et al., 2020; Eco, 1979). These representations can be combined, contextualized, and aggregated to convey extended meaning and generate information (Ackoff, 1989), for instance, to produce accurate and complete insights on sustainability attributes throughout supply chains (e.g., Körner et al., 2025; Krasikov & Legner, 2023). The distinct characteristics of data—such as its capacity to capture reality (Alaimo & Kallinikos, 2021) and non-rivalry (Tayi & Ballou, 1998)—create a complex field of tensions for organizations. Sharing digital data is often perceived as “easy,” for instance, sending an Excel file via e-mail. Yet once the file has been sent, the data leaves the provider’s control: even if errors are later discovered, permissions were lacking, or the data provider wishes to retract it, the data is already “in the world.” The provider is very likely unaware of how their data is used, shared, repackaged, or altered by third parties (see also Jarvenpaa & Markus, 2020; Parmiggiani et al., 2024). Consequently, sharing data across organizations and/or individuals entails navigating a multitude of complex determinants.