Toward a new paradigm of innovation on the mobile platform: redefining the roles of content providers, technology companies, and users

Innovation on the mobile platform has focused on the development of infrastructure and devices with mobile carriers and device manufacturers leading the effort. With the commoditization of voice traffic, there has been shift toward content innovation. In order for innovation to continue to flourish on the mobile platform, a new paradigm must be adopted. Rather than the current linear approach in which carriers dictate the terms to content providers and users, this new paradigm is more networked and ecological in structure. The key constituents include content providers, technology companies (both carriers and device manufacturers) and users of the mobile platform all of whom play important roles and continually interact to foster innovation. A case study on TJNet, an Italian mobile content provider, illustrates the new paradigm.