Digital platforms: Foundations and a classification proposal
Although those structures that we now call platforms have always been present in some sectors, it is from the establishment of the digital economy that they have come to play a leading role in our lives. Without understanding the mechanisms that govern the dynamics of digital platforms, which are different from those associated with the more traditional economy, it is difficult to understand many aspects of how today’s economy works. The objective of this article is to offer an introduction to the idea of platform and its characteristics. First, we review the general platform concept, the specificities of digital platforms and the particularities of their operation. Second, we describe the characteristics of the platforms that we consider more relevant in order to understand their social and economic effects. Finally, we choose three of these characteristics (the degree of digitisation, the openness in terms of access, provision, use and distribution, and their governance mechanisms) to develop a proposal for the classification of the platforms that we intend as a help to organise a little better our conception of the phenomenon. The classification scheme leads to the definition of different types of platforms that behave differently, as shown by the examples that we identify for each of them. We hope that our analysis will contribute to a better understanding of the paradigm shift brought about by the digitisation of the economy.
ODS
BSc and MSc in Physics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). MBA and PhD in Management Sciences from ESADE (Ramon Llull University). He was a visiting researcher at the Warwick Business School of the University of Warwick, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford. His current research focuses on topics relating to the strategic management of information and knowledge, social media, competitive intelligence, innovation and complexity in organizations. He is the head researcher for the consolidated research group KIMO on the management of information and knowledge in organizations, and he directs the Master in Strategic Management of Information and Knowledge in Organizations at the UOC.
Studying the doctorate programme in Information and Knowledge Society at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and member of the KIMO research group. He is a graduate in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and is a holder of master’s degrees in Political Science (UNITO) and Political Economics (Paris 13). He was a consultant in the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and teacher at various universities in Buenos Aires. Among his most noteworthy academic interests are the processes of knowledge transfer, academia-industry collaboration, and science and technology policies.