pt. 1. Fundamentals of virtual communities -- pt. 2. Applications of virtual communities -- pt. 3. Development of virtual communities -- pt. 4. Extending virtual communities beyond traditional boundaries.

This issue includes four papers that tackle important issues in the context of our special issue “Digital Services for Consumers”. As we highlighted in our call for papers, mobile computing, high speed communication, internet of things, and a plethora of services available through several...

Various studies have proven the positive impact of e-health solutions on treatment success and health care spending. Utilization of e-health is therefore urgently recommended by German health authorities. However, the diffusion of such technologies is currently very low, despite the availability...

Increasingly, firms follow the strategy of open business model innovation via the Internet. In this form of digital innovation management, firms make use of Internet platforms that allow them to integrate external customers and other stakeholders for (re-)innovation of their business models....

As the importance of services in our society increases, so does the importance of systematic approaches to develop theseservices – commonly termed New Service Development (NSD). An increasing proportion of services are now electronicservices delivered over the Internet. The purpose of this...