Requirements engineering is the activity of matching product properties with stakeholder expectations. In a world with finite resources, this means that RE is at the core of economics, the science and practice making decisions about finite resources. The requirements of a product must align with the business model of the product. And in the 21st century, it also means that product requirements must be aligned with the value network in which the product is offered on a market. In this talk I discuss the consequences of this view for RE and RE research.

Modern companies are networks of value exchanges, in which a set of economic entities jointly deliver value to customers. And they are embedded in still larger value networks with which they collaborate and compete. If a product is to be successful, it must support the survival and well-being of at least some stakeholders in this larger value network. This implies that RE must be value-based and network-oriented.

I will briefly sketch the ways in which a network of value exchanges can be described. The commercial view of this network focusses on economic transactions in which objects of value are exchanged, as described in the business model of the network. I will indicate how this network business model can be used as a basis for requirements. Zooming out further, a business model cannot be viable without a governance model that enables the creation, delivery and capture of value specified in the business model. Secondly, the commercial value exchanges in the network are based on relational structures in which economic entities enter and maintain long-term relationships that are not described in formal contracts. Both these perspectives, governance and relational, impact requirements engineering for the products traded in the value network. I end the talk with implications of this view for requirements engineering research and technology transfer. I will argue that RE research would do well to spend more time on business modeling for new products, which includes investment analysis. My talk also implies that research in the normative and relational context of products can reveal essential aspects of successful requirements engineering.

Second, I discuss implications for technology transfer, such as our company is attempting. We are transferring the e3value business modeling notation plus supporting tools from academia to practice, And where a research result may take less than 5 years to produce, transfer to practice will take more than five years. One reason is that the technology is embedded in a relational network in which it has a meaning, and in which the company transferring it has a reputation, which determines whether potential customers are willing to do business.