A New Industrial Revolution: The Platformization of Our Markets, Businesses and Societies

Abstract

The study outlines digital platforms as a new, innovative hybrid-concept. Platforms ex-ist simultaneously as digital infrastructure, business models and market spaces. These market spaces are heavily characterized by network effects and massive economies of scale. As business models, platforms impose a new economic paradigm which is de-lineated by winner-take-all potential, open-sourced value chains and the heavy em-phasis of technology and data. For companies platforms entail increasing competition, which is disruptive to some and lucrative for others. For consumers platforms offer novel products and services, but also less quantifiable benefits such as social gain. A variety of concerns, such as data privacy and negative consumer outcomes from net-work effects manifest on the flipside. For public institutions platforms constitute un-charted territory with regards to regulation. Issues concerning governance revolve around fair competition and misuse of monopolistic power.