Platform Thinking: Innovation in digital business models era

Over the last two decades, platforms have transformed the way, we search for information (e.g., Google), buy goods (e.g., Amazon), consume news and media (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) and travel and move around (e.g., Airbnb, Booking.com, Uber and TripAdvisor). This phenomenon is known as 'the power of platforms', defined as an innovative business model that relies on digital technologies to assemble people, knowledge and companies in an interactive ecosystem where value can be created, captured and shared. These platforms have a great ability to attract funds and grow rapidly, relying on external resources (e.g. private houses for Airbnb or private cars for Uber), with a significant impact on the market. These companies act as intermediaries, attempting to reduce frictions in the market and helping the supply and demand sides of a product or service to find each other. As such, existing companies may be inspired by these fast-growing companies to at least partially capture the opportunities underpinning the model. Most of them are digital companies mainly focusing on the service field; nevertheless, recent cases show how platforms are having an impact in many different industries with the spread of the sharing economy and implications in the brick and mortar industries. This course aims to identify the elements that make platforms such a relevant and interesting business model defining the concept of "Platform thinking", defined as the ability to see the potentialities derived from platform-based models while fostering innovation in the digital world but also in traditional and established businesses. The course is based on the definition of platforms, taking a historical view on the evolution of this complex concept that became a buzzword, introducing Platform Thinking.

Platforms changed the way we live and we do business. This module of the “Platform Thinking” series aims to help innovators in designing and building platforms. At first sight, it may seem that platforms "simply" connect different kinds of users, as Airbnb links travelers and hosts or as Uber links drivers and riders. Well, this is true: platforms link different kinds of users. Nevertheless, this is just the enabling factor to have a platform, definitely not enough to describe the wide range of activities they actually do. Therefore, this module aims to assess the starting point of creating the platform, identifying the initial set of customers and the main challenging elements to bring the design forward. Then, it digs in the phases of kicking-off a new platform and then in managing its growth over time, becoming a real ecosystem. In other words, the course aims to present the main strategies and tactics to design, launch, and manage a platform. In the end, it introduces platform thinking steps, helping established companies evolve towards a platform model.

(Digital) data are often considered the new oil. Companies often exploit them building platforms, involving different sets of users that generate data – for example, enjoying a digital service through a mobile app – and other organizations that see value in those data and wish to leverage them. This module of the “Platform Thinking” series aims to assess the role of data in digital platforms. We are talking about companies – like social networks – that exploit data to offer personalized advertising or personalized experiences – in services like Netflix or Spotify – but even companies that offer data to external partners for other purposes, like fitness apps that share data with pharmaceutical companies or other health companies. This is a widely intriguing but also a slippery topic, given the amount of data-related scandals we lived over the last few years. Therefore, this course aims to assess the strategies and tactics to exploit data through platforms, highlighting the opportunities and challenges of creating and managing data-driven opportunities. In doing so, we will consider the ethical and policy implications – and related opportunities – to have a transparent and trustable relationship with the end-users. Finally, we will position the data within the platform thinking process.