Alfonso Fuggetta [CEO, Cifriel], accompanied by the master technologist Gigi Tagliapietra.

Every day we repeat that we have to “work together”: businesses with other businesses, businesses with government agencies, and government agencies with other government agencies.
It seems an obvious concept, but in reality it does not happen often, and when it does, it is done badly.
The term “coopetition” combines “cooperation” and “competition”. It indicates a market approach where a number of independent bodies collaborate on some aspects, while competing on others.

The most striking case of coopetition is GSM. It is a standard agreed upon by mobile phone manufacturers and operators, which has allowed the market to develop to an extraordinary level. Another example is E015, an ecosystem created for Expo 2015 which promotes application mashup and the development of advanced services.

In the field of digital innovation, and also in tourism (in both the public and private sectors), we need to create coopetitive ecosystems; that is, where a critical mass can be created by agreeing on standards, reference architectures and operational processes, and shared and/or cohesive services.

On this basis of agreed and consistent standards, a multiplicity of participants must be able to operate in competition, in the interest of all the stakeholders involved.