Digital Entrepreneurship and Territorial Bricolage: The Mechanisms Underlying the Construction of a Smart Territory in Dakhla-Oued Eddahab

Abstract

In peripheral territories with still limited digital resources, the emergence of innovative entrepreneurial practices raises questions about the concrete mechanisms through which digital technology contributes to building a smart territory. This is the case of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, engaged in a digital transformation dynamic driven by national strategies and the Morocco Digital 2030 vision, yet where entrepreneurs must navigate significant territorial constraints. This research aims to understand how entrepreneurs mobilize territorial bricolage to turn these constraints into levers for building a smart territory in Dakhla-Oued Eddahab. The study adopts an interpretivist qualitative stance based on a single case study. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders of the regional ecosystem and analyzed through a reflexive thematic analysis assisted by Nvivo12, following an abductive approach. The findings show that the contribution of digital entrepreneurship to smart territory construction rests on the interaction between digital infrastructure, territorial governance, entrepreneurial ecosystem dynamics, and entrepreneurs' adaptive capabilities. They further reveal an emerging mechanism, territorial digital entrepreneurial bricolage, through which entrepreneurs creatively mobilize locally available resources to overcome structural constraints. This mechanism enriches the theoretical model and opens avenues for other comparable peripheral territories.