Platforms and Ecosystems: New Perspectives in the Era of Data, Analytics, and AI
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Item How Can Platforms Ecosystems Support Mission-Specific Innovation Systems?(2025-01-07) Sobota, Vladimir; Wiarda, Martijn; Coenen, Tom B. J.; Ortt, Roland J.The recent uptake of transformative mission-oriented innovation policies introduces novel demands on innovation systems. Scholars suggest that platform ecosystems could help meet these new demands, but how this may be done remains unexplored and unspecified. This is problematic because policymakers already develop and deploy such resource-intensive platforms. To address this gap, this paper conceptualizes how platform ecosystems can be employed to support mis-sion-specific innovation systems. We argue that plat-forms can cover a range of system functions, including the provision of problem/solution directionality, coordination of the transition, and market creation. We animate our conceptualization through an illustrative vignette of the NetZeroCities platform and provide urgent avenues for future research that would yield a better understanding of mission-oriented platform ecosystems.Item Design Principles for Complementary Business Models - An Action Design Research Study on Public Interest in the European Health Data Space(2025-01-07) Kari, Arthur; Schurig, Tim; Gersch, MartinComplementary platform business models often prioritize individual profits over the public interest. This can be detrimental, as it neglects broader societal benefits. To address this issue, European policymakers reached an agreement on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation, which requires complementors to align their business models with the public interest, emphasizing user-centricity and data sovereignty. However, it is unclear how complementors can translate these abstract requirements into economically viable and EHDS-compliant business models. To explore this, we conducted an Action Design Research project in a consortium that develops a health data space and integrates multiple complementors. By supporting the development of 25 complementary business models, we contribute four design principles that guide complementors to design platform-based business models that (1) create public value, (2) promote the empowerment of citizens and patients, (3) build on federated health data architectures, and (4) facilitate participatory value networks.Item Understanding Partnering Strategies in the Low-Code Platform Ecosystem(2025-01-07) Naqvi, Syed Asad Ali; Zimmer, Markus; Drews, Paul; Basole, RahulLow-code platforms (LCPs) allow the development, testing, and deployment of software applications with minimal manual coding by using pre-built software components and visual design tools. LCPs frequently enter into technology partnerships to offer extensive capabilities required for software development. In this study, we identify and characterize these technology partnerships to understand and develop the structure of the LCP ecosystem. We model the LCP ecosystem and identify nine types of technology partnerships. In doing so, we advance our understanding in three key areas: (1) provide insight into the evolving LCP ecosystem, (2) reveal that LCP vendors use various technological partnerships and strategies across different capability areas with varying partner network sizes and capability compositions, and (3) demonstrate the value of ecosystem visualization. Collectively, our findings can help LCP users and developers to understand the foundational, competitive, and niche partnership strategies and enable LCP vendors to innovate and collaborate effectively.Item Multihoming Revisited - A Data Network Effects Perspective on Complement Value Creation(2025-01-07) Knorr, Clarissa; Erath, Matthias; Saesen, Julie; Kindermann, Bastian; Strese, SteffenThe growing relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in digital platform ecosystems has introduced new pathways of value creation, recently discussed by scholars as “data network effects”. Drawing upon a dataset of 7,063 iOS gaming apps, this study investigates in light of the increased potential to leverage user data, how complement multihoming affects consumer value, shaped by complement independence from the platform core and value capture by complementors. We contribute three-fold to Information Systems research: first, we provide an updated perspective on multihoming by revealing a value contribution by multihoming complements; second, our results emphasize the value advantage of complements with high software autonomy; third, we demonstrate the diminishing effect of complementors’ value capture, such as direct and indirect monetization, on complement quality in multihoming contexts. Our findings offer practical insights for complementors and platform providers navigating value creation and capture in today’s digital ecosystems.Item The Concept of Platform Federations – A Case Study of ChatGPT Browser Plugins(2025-01-07) Schmidt, Rainer; Alt, Rainer; Zimmermann, AlfedThis paper introduces the concept of platform federations, a novel approach to digital ecosystem integration. Platform federations offer an alternative to full assistants and co-pilots, enabling fine-grained sharing of functionality across diverse platforms. This modular architecture allows for more flexible and collaborative dynamics among the platform stakeholders. Using a network science-based approach, we analyzed the structural properties and value-creation mechanisms of platform federations using the example of ChatGPT browser plugins for Chrome, Edge and Firefox. The findings reveal how these federations drive complementarities and network effects, leading to enriched user experience and sustainable growth. We provide strategic recommendations to developers, policymakers, and platform operators to leverage these insights. This study contributes to platform theory by offering a new framework for understanding decentralized digital collaboration and its implications for innovation, competition, and value creation in an evolving digital platform economy.Item Introduction to the Minitrack on Platforms and Ecosystems: New Perspectives in the Era of Data, Analytics, and AI(2025-01-07) Rothe, Hannes; Sobota, Vladimir; Huhtamäki, Jukka; Still, Kaisa