Digital Platforms 2.0: Learnings, Opportunities, and Challenges

Abstract

Platform-based digital ecosystems form the backbone of our interactions with the Internet. Over the past decade, digital ecosystems have witnessed significant growth, both in terms of industry footprint and academic research. Yet, the challenges associated with their operations, governance, and regulation continue to evolve. In this paper, we discuss some of these challenges and the resulting research opportunities they bring. We begin by highlighting how platforms have evolved over time, and how their definition has changed as a result. Contemporary online platforms simultaneously manage an attention and information economy as well as a goods and services economy. As information aggregators, they play a critical role in collecting and leveraging high-frequency data. As we discuss research on digital ecosystems, we classify existing work into four primary groups: mechanism design, information design, consumer protection, and competition. Finally, we describe the challenges inherent to conducting empirical research with and without the collaboration of the companies themselves. Our insights highlight the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to the study of digital ecosystems for a full grasp of the opportunities and challenges that they create for firms and consumers.

Keywords: online markets, platform design, platform regulation