Aim: The recent disruptive rise of digital platforms has shaped people¿s lives contributing to the definition of a new socio-economic paradigm.Despite the increasing spread of digital platforms in any socio-economic systems, their sustainability has been not still enough investigated. For bridging this gap in knowledge, the project aims at analysing economic, social, and environmental impacts of platforms ecosystems.Specifically, the economic sustainability of platforms is related to the overall impact of digital platforms on competition, tax regulation, and business configurations; social sustainability is analysed concerning privacy protection, social inequality, and new labour models; and environmental sustainability is approached considering the environmental costs of computation, the lack of a global strategy on climate change, and the environmental footprint of digital platforms.Methodology: The project builds upon the conceptual framework advised by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for depicting a conceptual model able to in-depth existing knowledge about 1] sustainability of digital platforms, and 2] managerial processes, actions, and behaviours for increasing sustainability of digital platforms.
The project will combine quali-quantitative methodologies to define a theoretical framework able to suggest managerial actions for improving the sustainability of digital platform ecosystems. Multiple case studies analysis will be conducted for tracing main processes and dynamics on which to build a sustainability-based approach for the management of digital platforms.Originality: The project enriches existing knowledge about a recent and relevant topic both in managerial and social studies. Focusing the attention on the ways for ensuring and increasing sustainability in the management of digital platforms, the project provides possible stimuli for reflections about future policies for technology and digital management in the light of sustainability science.
The research will enrich existing contributions about the managerial implication of digital and technological development through the definition of a finalized approach direct to emphasise the central role of sustainability. Basically, the project overcomes reductionist approaches based on the technicality of the digital revolution, opening to a new dimension for the study interested in catching, understanding, and explaining implications and consequences of the digital revolution on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of our lives.
The project will clarify in which way the so-called ¿platform revolution¿ can contribute to the global challenge of sustainability as defined by the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations.
Focusing the attention on the ways for ensuring and increasing sustainability in the management of digital platforms, the project provides possible stimuli for reflections both regarding the theoretical and practical side.
Furtherly, the research contributes to the understanding of the main managerial mechanisms for improving the sustainability of digital platforms. Finally, due to the role of digital platforms in the actual economy, it fosters future research on how to design future digital platforms consistently with the sustainability targets. More than this, the project will enrich existing knowledge about sustainability issues raised by new business configurations with the aim to allow platforms to better organize themselves, shaping their boundaries, and defining their configurations to reach sustainability.