It is argued that the diffusion of

It is argued that the diffusion of the information and
communication technologies (ICTs) is changing the way by
which companies compete and succeed, the business
models, and the value-creating processes. New opportunities are taking place both to create new ventures and to
modify the existing businesses.
These changing processes are due to the ICTs’ capability
to transfer, collect, manage a great amount of information
and to reduce the space and time barriers. Therefore, firms
may reduce the transaction costs of information-intensive
activities by resorting to ICTs. These opportunities may
especially favour small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that
in most cases operate in a dense network of inter-firm
relationships and consequently manage a great amount of
information.
However, recent data on the diffusion and adoption of
ICTs show that the ICT penetration is still quite low
among SMEs (Eurostat, 2002; IDC, 2000; OECD, 1998,
2001).
This paper explores the opportunities provided by the
adoption and implementation of ICT solutions in a particular
SME-intensive productive environment: the geographical
cluster. The characteristics of this peculiar production model
make it particularly appropriate for the use of ICTs and
Internet-based solutions. In fact, as stressed by a large number
of scholars (Becattini et al., 1992; Enright, 1995; Maillat et al.,
1995; Piore and Sabel, 1984; Porter, 1998), clusters base their
competitive advantages on two distinctive aspects: (1) the
inter-networking processes and (2) the speed and easy
circulation of information and knowledge. Thus, a cluster
can be seen as an extended enterprise, where the different
actors (the cluster firms) are usually specialised in single
manufacturing phases, that require intense coordination,
flexible relationships, and appropriate supporting tools to
manage the networking activities.
Therefore, it may be possible to think that the new
economy and ICTs provide geographical clusters with new
development opportunities, drawing new possible trajectories of evolution.
The paper in particular is addressed to: