Innovation and Regulation in the Digital Age: A Call for New Perspectives

Relations between innovation and regulation are all but fluid and simple. When innovation, beyond just developing new techniques, means redefining the very framework for implementing and operating technologies, it often means breaking the rules, challenging them. In the digital economy, the way it overturns the regulation and rule setting system is particularly radical. Innovation is key to create competitive advantage in a highly dynamic sector such as information and communications technologies. Firms invest heavily in productive resources and take steps to protect their competitive advantage. Productive resources are either network and connection infrastructure or consumer control which is rarely seen as such. It could be consumer’s attention or visits which requires massive investments in content, for example. It does include intermediation platform like search engine, programs, knowledge, entertainment and other immaterial products of the digital age. There is a need to rethink regulation on the basis of innovation and mobilization of these productive resources. The digital economy calls for a more holistic consideration of the link between innovation and mobilization of value on the one hand, and regulation on the other.