Digital Technologies and Social Innovation in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Abstract

This study examines how digital technologies shape entrepreneurial ecosystems for social innovation and collaborative value creation, addressing grand challenges aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and July 2025 among 412 social entrepreneurs, incubator and accelerator managers, impact investors, and policy and government officials across Brazil, Kenya, South Korea, Germany, and Canada. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the direct, mediating, and moderating relationships among digital technologies, ecosystem collaboration, social innovation performance, and institutional support. The findings show that digital technologies positively influence ecosystem collaboration, which in turn enhances social innovation performance. Digital technologies also exert a significant direct effect on social innovation performance, while ecosystem collaboration partially mediates this relationship. Furthermore, institutional support positively moderates the relationship between ecosystem collaboration and social innovation performance. The study contributes to entrepreneurial ecosystem research by conceptualizing digital transformation as an ecosystem process in which technological capabilities, collaborative relationships, and institutional conditions jointly shape social innovation outcomes. Practically, the findings suggest that ecosystem builders and policymakers should combine investments in digital infrastructure and platform governance with mechanisms that strengthen cross-sector collaboration and institutional support. The cross-sectional design, perceptual measures, and non-probability sampling limit causal inference and generalizability. Future research should employ longitudinal and multilevel designs, incorporate objective ecosystem indicators, examine additional stakeholder groups, and disaggregate digital technologies by type and function.