THE EMERGENCE OF THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM: CONCEPTUALIZATION, CHALLENGES, AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The rapid development of information and communication technologies and the large-scale transition of economic processes into the virtual plane have led to the transformation of traditional economic systems. The emergence of the global digital ecosystem (GDE) marks a transition to a new architecture of the world economy, which requires deep theoretical understanding and conceptualization. The article aims to study the theoretical and methodological foundations of the formation and features of the global digital ecosystem functioning as a newest form of organization and structuring of the modern world space. The paper uses a complex of scientific methods: system and structural-functional analysis – to study the GDE architecture; methods of generalization and scientific abstraction – to study the evolution of the conceptual and categorical apparatus; comparative and critical analysis – to assess challenges, threats, and alternative models of digital environment development. The genesis of the term "ecosystem" from its biological origins to modern algorithmic models is analyzed. The key conceptual foundations of GDE development are identified, including platformization, network effects, and data-centricity. Special attention is paid to the specific, multifaceted interaction and strategic co-competition within the primary triad of the system's actors: powerful high-tech corporations (Big Tech), sovereign states, and autonomous artificial intelligence systems. The key systemic challenges of GDE functioning are identified and structuralized, in particular, digital neocolonization, the total erosion of user privacy, algorithmic surveillance, and cyber threats of a new type. Potential directions of GDE transformation are proposed through the lens of a paradigm transition toward decentralized Web 3.0 frameworks and intelligent-symbiotic Web 4.0 architectures. The paper conceptually resolves the terminological ambiguity between evolutionary stages by arguing that decentralized protocols, distributed ledgers, and self-sovereign identity form the indispensable infrastructure baseline upon which the intelligent, machine-to-machine, and symbiotic services of Web 4.0 deploy. It is proved that this paradigm transition can significantly weaken, decentralize, and neutralize the identified asymmetric risks associated with corporate monopolization and surveillance capitalism within the GDE. It is substantiated that the GDE serves as a fundamental form of organizing the global geo-economic space, which urgently requires entirely new approaches to regulating relations, sovereign boundaries, and strategic interactions between states, transnational corporate capital, and autonomous artificial intelligence.