Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Review of Emerging Trends and Future Research Directions

<jats:p>Digital entrepreneurship is reshaping business creation, innovation, and value delivery through digital platforms, data-driven technologies, and interconnected innovation ecosystems. Despite scholarly growth, existing evidence remains fragmented regarding ecosystem governance, inclusion, sustainability, and the longterm performance of digitally enabled ventures. This comprehensive review aimed to synthesize emerging trends, identify knowledge gaps, and define future research directions in digital entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems. Relevant peerreviewed studies on digital platforms, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, digital finance, open innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems were examined through a structured qualitative literature review. Findings show that digital technologies lower entry barriers, accelerate scalability, improve access to finance and knowledge, and strengthen collaboration among entrepreneurs, investors, universities, governments, technology providers, and customers. Key challenges include cybersecurity threats, regulatory uncertainty, digital capability gaps, unequal infrastructure, platform dependence, data privacy risks, and ethical concerns surrounding algorithmic decision-making. The review highlights the need for longitudinal, cross-country, and sector-specific studies, together with standardized measures of ecosystem performance and inclusive participation. These findings imply that policymakers and ecosystem leaders should strengthen digital infrastructure, governance, skills development, and responsible innovation frameworks. Digital entrepreneurship can support resilient and sustainable economic development when technological opportunity is matched by institutional coordination. The key insight is that ecosystem quality, not technology alone, determines durable entrepreneurial value creation.</jats:p>