Ecosystems

Wikipedia uses the following to define an Ecosystem:

An ecosystem is a system that environments and their organisms form through their interaction. The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors.

While the original definition of an Ecosystem relates to the living, we have since started on the path of creating Ecosystems based on business, technologies and numerous other use cases.

A search for the "Apple Ecosystem" in Google gives us the following result:

The Apple ecosystem is the connection and integration between different Apple devices—such as the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple TV—and how they behave, sync, and work together.

Examples of other prominent Ecosystems in the tech world are the Microsoft Ecosystem and Google's Android Ecosystem.

Ecosystem based Products & Solutions

Products and solutions developed with an Ecosystem based architecture have the advantages of:

• standardizing multiple aspects of usability and extensibility
• continuing to pursue innovation and expansion without sacrificing consistency in user experience and product behavior
• reducing time for user on-boarding for additional products within the brand
• supporting interoperability between functionally different components of the system

Relevance to Digital Pathology

As Digital Pathology solutions and offerings mature, healthcare and research institutes will have the opportunity to select from a wide variety of products. It is important to evaluate:

• the capabilities and functions these products offer within their boundaries
• whether these capabilities are cohesive while maintaining their independence (low coupling, high cohesion)
• the degree of flexibility offered via extensive configurability
• ability to integrate with solutions from other vendors
• ability to extend while introducing new solutions

Conclusion

Digital Pathology solutions must continue to improve and mature with a conscious effort on:

• improving patient care: timeliness and accuracy of diagnosis are two critical factors
• workflows: contribute towards helping improve and optimizing overall workflow in healthcare and research institutes
• innovation: digital pathology must continue to innovate and introduce disruptive concepts for disease diagnosis

Credits

• Wikipedia
• Google