Simulation of a Self-Optimising Digital Ecosystem

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) most often lack resources for custom-made software solutions that support best their core businesses. In this paper a simulation framework for self-optimising SME networks, namely Evolutionary Environment Simulator (EvESimulator), is introduced. The Evolutionary Environment, which the framework bases on, is an infrastructural component for distributed and decentralised service creation and service improvement based on mechanisms that are operating similarly in the living environment. This paper concentrates on the simulation of these mechanisms for SME networks. Built upon the widely-used simulation framework Repast, the cooperation behaviour of companies is investigated that use self-optimizing software services and distribute related information amongst them. The simulator is capable of importing real-world data from real businesses thereby enabling conceptual studies and hypothesis testing. It is applied in the context of three utilisation scenarios that investigate critical mass for sustainability, clustering in general, and usage-based clustering. The first results of the EvESimulator reveal a dynamic creation of a growing network of businesses that is clearly outperforming centralized topologies in the long run.