This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Economics of Grids, Clouds, Systems, and Services (GECON 2018). GECON is a long-held conference that annually brings together economics and computer science researchers, with the ultimate aim of building a strong multidisciplinary community in the increasingly important areas of future ICT systems and economics.

The strong connection between ICT and economics aspects in current research endeavors reflects the reality of today’s world, where technological advancements cause social and economic shifts, and information technology is often provided or controlled by large industrial realities and pervasive social networks. Clouds, mobile and distributed systems are well-established game-changer innovations of this kind. Other emergent ICT paradigms such as microservices and artificial intelligence are obvious examples of this recurring trend. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is needed when tackling the complexity of the interdependencies between ICT and economy, as well as the links with other disciplines such as politics or sociology. From another viewpoint, the impact of ICT is becoming so significant compared with other disciplines that, to some extent, the economy itself is transforming into an information and knowledge economy.

In order to better focus on new research directions and their impact and relationship with the main conference, this year’s GECON organized three special sessions on selected topics, namely: “IT Service Ecosystems Enabled Through Emerging Digital Technologies,” “Machine Learning, Cognitive Systems, and Data Science for System Management,” and “Blockchain Technologies and Economics.”