System integration as an economic category: evolution of scientific views

The article examines the genesis and transformation of the concept of system integration (SI) in economics. The authors trace the evolution of the understanding of SI from a narrow technological interpretation characteristic of the industrial and post-industrial stages to a modern, complex economic category reflecting the strategic market process of value creation. The transition from considering integration as a way of combining technical components to its perception as a key competency that forms competitive advantages at the level of firms, regions and national economies is analyzed. Based on historical, economic and comparative analysis, three paradigms are identified: technological, organizational, managerial and market approaches. Within each paradigm, key drivers, objects of integration, sources of added value and the role of the integrator are identified. Particular attention is paid to the role of system integration in the context of digitalization and the emergence of platform business models, where SI is transformed into a meta-activity for the design and management of ecosystems. The impact of this transformation on regional economic policy is explored, and the need for a transition from supporting individual industries to the formation of an institutional and infrastructural environment conducive to the development of integration competencies is substantiated. It is concluded that system integration has evolved into a fundamental principle of organizing a competitive economy of the 21st century, determining the configuration of global value chains and trajectories of spatial development. The results of the study have theoretical value for the development of the theory of the firm, industrial organization and regional economics, as well as practical significance for the formation of corporate growth strategies and regional structural policies.