FROM INCUBATORS TO ECOSYSTEMS: EVALUATING THE STARTUP DIGITAL ECONOMY CLUSTER OF HULL CITY

SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY HAS VALUE

The data reported here appear to support the assumption that network effects, understood with reference to user participation, integration and synergies are another of the key features of the digital economy (OECD, 2014:84). One of the most prominent authors on the field even joked about the fact that “‘networking seems to be on everyone's lips. No one simply goes to a party anymore. They go to Network. For many people, the World Wide Web exists for the main purpose of making connections” (Kadushin, 2012:3). In their manual ‘Social Network analysis for startups’ (2011) Tsvetovat and Kouznetsov observed that “Almost every startup company in 2011 uses the word “social” in their business plans—although few actually know how to analyze and understand the social processes that can result in their firms’ success or failure (2011:7). It is also possible that the dynamic entities of the startup ecosystem are already behaving as a community without being necessarily aware of that (Fuller and Warren, 2006:965). The networks analysed within the Digital Economy cluster - C4DI and The Enterprise Centre Facebook pages - do not show a prevalent social media presence, they are behaving as a community with a weak leadership mainly centred in the UK.

The lack of social media leadership do not imply a lack of complexity within the ecosystem. According to Roberta Comunian, the first step to understand any complex adaptative system is to identify the human and non-human agents interacting with it. Data retrieved from the Netvizz Facebook app contained information regarding users (human) and posts (nom human) by page. After identifying the most connected network components the graph showed that C4DI has a strongly connected network with an even distribution of users and posts and that the Enterprise Centre network is characterized as a super user network with a weakest connectivity among posts. In both cases, connectivity among users and pages is linked mostly to locally relevant social events (such as The Freedom Festival, FEO events or Hull City of Culture 2017 information and pre-celebratory events); holidays (such as Christmas); and topics of interest for the community (such as information regarding ethical hacking or digital awards). That way, as pointed out by Comunian, elements which might be marginal to cultural development, “such as the local environment and its economic development, can have significant influences” (2010:7)

The fact that there is not a prevalent use of social media platforms among the overall count of companies or hubs within the monitored Digital Economy cluster can be interpreted as a weak leadership in this area but also suggest that there is a real opportunity for growing and differentiation by taking advantage of the lack of a strong presence inside the network. On the other hand, due to the small sample size used during the analysis, caution must be applied, as the findings may not be extrapolable to the entire cluster.  As a newborn hub, there is strong evidence to suggest that the C4DI is showing a remarkable growth in terms of network activities. In less than two years since its foundation, the C4DI is not only central in terms of social media presence but is also concentrating 29,6% of business activity, on the other hand the Enterprise Centre has a residual presence in the overall ecosystem. Ethnographic observations taken and reported on site also suggest that the C4DI is not operating at its maximum capacity and an increase in the presence of companies, events and activities can be expected. Therefore, it is solid to acknowledge the importance of the C4DI at the present time and to predict a consistent growth around the initiative in a foreseeable future, linking network connectivity with value creation.  
 

This page has paths: