The Rise of the Platform Economy

The application of big data, new algorithms, and cloud computing will change the nature of work and the structure of the economy. The exact nature of that change will be determined by the social, political, and business choices we make. A digital platform economy is emerging, with companies such as Amazon, Etsy, Facebook, Google, Salesforce, and Uber creating online structures that enable a wide range of human activities. This opens the way for radical changes in how we work, socialize, create value in the economy, and compete for the resulting profits. These digital platforms are diverse in function and structure. Google and Facebook are digital platforms that offer search and social media, but they also provide an infrastructure on which other platforms are built. Amazon is a marketplace, as are Etsy and eBay. Amazon Web Services provides infrastructure and tools with which others can build more platforms.