Startup ecosystem of Albergo Diffuso: digital orchestration of value co-creation

Vollständiger Abstract

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The article addresses the problem of the infrastructure gap and high entry barriers to the Ukrainian hospitality industry during the recovery period. The research hypothesis states that transforming the traditional scattered hotel framework into a digital-centric ecosystem enables decentralised destinations to overcome infrastructure gaps and achieve economic resilience via an Asset-Light strategy, which compresses initial capital requirements by systematically integrating pre-existing commu¬nity housing assets through a unified IT platform. The study employs a systems approach to ecosystem architecture design, an analysis of international case studies (Sextantio, Nipponia, Limehome), the DART model decomposition method, and predictive simulation modelling of investment and operational parameters based on empirical data from Ukrainian hotel developers. It is demonstrated that transforming a classical scattered hotel into a digital-centric ecosystem allows for the effective capitalisation of authentic community assets without significant expenditures on new construction. The startup orchestrator is defined as an integrative platform that creates a "digital layer" over dispersed objects through the synergy of SaaS solutions, IoT, and Fintech tools. Four vectors of the DART model are operationalised: Dialogue (via direct communication modules), Access (NFC/IoT systems), Risk Assessment (verify¬cation via Diia.Signature and SOP protocols), and Transparency (automated revenue distri¬bution via Split Payments). A "Business-in-a-Box" model is proposed to minimise the deficit of entrepreneurial skills among community resi-dents. The scientific novelty lies in the theore-tical substantiation and conceptual mode¬lling of a architecture for the Albergo Diffuso startup ecosystem as a spatially distributed digital orchestrator, where the application of S-D logic and the DART model at the IT-platform level allows for the systematic transformation of a communityʼs authentic housing stock from a passive resource base into a dynamic network of value co-creation, thereby re-defining the startupʼs institutional role as a digital verifier of local authenticity. The practical significance of the results is found in the potential for the intellectual capitalisation of local assets as a basis for the economic resilience of territories in the post-crisis period.