2017 MIT Platform Strategy Summit

   The MIT Platform Strategy Summit has become the world’s leading business conference on platform strategy. This year was no exception. Hosted by the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE), the conference featured keynote speakers and discussion focused on the implications of platform-centered economics and management to an audience of business executives, public-sector officials, and academics.  The Summit was sponsored by KPMG, Global Payments, BearingPoint, and Tencent Holdings.

The trend toward digitally-based platform business models is accelerating. In just a few years, successful platform businesses have uprooted traditional companies by using technology to effectively match producers with consumers. Along with attracting tens of millions of active users and consummating billions of transactions, platforms significantly increase in value with every customer interaction and experience, creating a so-called “network effect” that continuously drives growth.

The Platform Strategy Summit addressed some of the most significant opportunities and challenges concerning the adoption, development, and investment in platform businesses.  Many important topics were covered:

• Building and running digital platforms
• The evolution of the developer ecosystem in the Age of Platforms
• The growing connection between platforms and AI and machine learning
• How VCs view and invest in platform startups
• The future of payments in a platform economy
• What digital industrial platforms need to know about integrating edge, clouds, and apps
• The relationship between smart connected devices, the Internet of Things and platforms
• Platforms as engines of innovation

As Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne and I noted in the conference kickoff, the top 50 platform companies now have a market capitalization of over $4.5 trillion. Initially, platform business models emerged from social, entertainment and ecommerce. Today, platform adoption has spread rapidly into industrial sectors, such transportation and energy. As platforms grow in size and scale, they are making a more significant contribution to national systems of innovation. Some platform companies are recipients of thousands of patents a year, including a growing number in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning.  

At the same time, regulatory scrutiny of platforms is growing, with uncertain outcomes. The platform landscape is far from evenly distributed in terms of the size and scale of companies.  At least 75 percent of the world’s major platform companies are located in the United States, whereas Europe has just 3 percent. As a consequence, there are significant geographic differences in platform creation and growth.   Finally, despite growing awareness, we have yet to see a consensus over the correct balance between data rights and unfettered digital marketplace growth.

A big thanks to the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and staff for, once again, hosting a rich and engaging event and producing a terrific conference report. 

The conference report is available for download here: https://ide.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2017-MIT-Platform-Summit-Report.pdf  

Videos of the conference sessions are available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RujcC2InR4s&list=PLNmZUX7tW6t_eSjqMtyQguuUEgQBt9LQX