Relation of digital economy and knowledge economy

Digital economy is found on computer technologies. Another titles for the digital economy are the internet economy, the new economy and web economy. According to Thomas Mesenbourg there are three main components:

• e-business infrastructure (information infrastructure, hardware, software, telecoms, networks, human capital, etc.),
• e-business,
• e-commerce.

However, development brings more complexity as social media, internet search engines. Organizations and people in digital economy interact, communicate, search for information and create strategies through digital infrastructures.

The knowledge economy use knowledge for creation of tangible and intangible assets, where technology and knowledge technology plays significant role in incorporation of human knowledge into machines.

The term became more known after Peter Drucker published his book The Age of Discontinuity. Here Drucker refers to knowledge economy and knowledge industries, which he characterized as which produce and distribute ideas and information rather than goods and services and stress out the importance of industry as it accounted for one-quarter of U.S. Gross National Product in year 1955.

First concept of knowledge economy is that knowledge and education can be treated as a business product, and by second concept as productive asset.

Knowledge contribute to growing pace of technical and scientific progress, in knowledge economy is a bigger focus on intellectual capabilities rather than on physical factors of production.

Digital economy is heavily based on knowledge economy and vice-versa. Digital economy is one of the leading areas of knowledge economy and probably will be the most significant in the future.