In the stage of high-quality development, improving the quality of enterprise innovation is the key to achieving innovation-driven development. Empirical analyses have demonstrated that the digital economy significantly contributes to firm innovation, but little literature has examined the dual innovation perspective of exploratory and exploitative innovation, or explored the impact mechanisms in terms of the dimensions of improved relationships within and outside the firm. This paper analyzes the impact of the development of digital economy in the cities where the companies are located on the dual innovation of the companies, using the A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2020 as a sample, and using internal control, which reflects the internal relationships of the firm, and social responsibility, which reflects the external relationships of the firm, as mediating variables to examine their impact mechanisms. The analysis revealed that: a significant positive effect of the increased level of regional digital economy development on both exploratory and exploitative innovation in firms, with this dual innovation promotion effect being stronger among state-owned enterprises (versus non-state-owned enterprises), large enterprises (versus SMEs), and enterprises in the central and western regions (versus enterprises in the eastern regions). Regional digital economy development can promote dual innovation by improving the quality of internal control and enhancing social responsibility. Namely, regional digital economy development will have a dual-track effect on corporate dual innovation by improving the internal and external relationships of the company, with a greater mediating effect in promoting exploratory innovation (improved internal control and social responsibility are more effective in promoting exploratory innovation than development innovation), and the mediating effect of internal control is greater than that of social responsibility. Further analysis of the role of digital transformation of enterprises reveals that digital transformation not only significantly promotes dual innovation in enterprises, but also has a mediating and positive moderating role in the development of the regional digital economy for dual innovation in enterprises. Based on the existing literature, this paper analyses the impact of regional digital economy development on the dual innovation of enterprises, and validates the dual promotion mechanism of improving internal and external relations based on the mediating effect test, expanding and deepening the research on the innovation effect of enterprises in the digital economy. At the same time, the important role played by the digital transformation of enterprises in the development of the regional digital economy affecting the dual innovation of enterprises is explored, contributing to a deeper understanding of the mutual reinforcement between the digital economy at the regional level and the digital economy at the enterprise level. According to the findings of this paper, local governments should vigorously promote the development of the digital economy and take active measures to expand and enhance the universality and sharing of the digital economy, while enterprises should accelerate digital transformation, improve the quality of internal controls and actively fulfill their social responsibilities, thereby promoting their innovative development and continuously strengthening exploratory innovation.