Abstract
Smart ecosystems, comprising interconnected digital, physical, and organisational entities, face significant challenges of governance, coordination, and sustainable scalability. Centralised governance often proves inefficient, exclusive, and inflexible in such environments. To address these limitations, this paper introduces the SmartDAO Framework, a multi-layered governance architecture grounded in Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs), blockchain, and smart contracts. Developed through an extended design science research methodology, the framework integrates three artefacts targeting governance at operational, strategic, and inter-organisational levels. The Operational Execution Layer enables automated, data-driven decision-making; the Strategic Planning Layer fosters participatory planning through stakeholder proposals and voting; and the Coordination and Scaling Layer supports cross-organisational collaboration via programmable agreements. Governance is the framework’s core principle, realised through four enabling dimensions: decentralisation, collaboration, autonomisation, and optimisation. The SmartDAO Framework contributes to advancing theory on decentralised governance while offering practical pathways for building resilient and scalable digital ecosystems.
Recommended Citation
Aakanksha, Aakanksha; Peko, Gabrielle; and Sundaram, David, "Governing the Digital Commons: A Blockchain-based
Decentralised Autonomous Organisations Framework for
Ecosystem Coordination" (2025). ACIS 2025 Proceedings. 63.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2025/63