Why Are Digital Platforms All the Rage: The Past, Present, and Future of Digital Platforms

Speaker: Dr. Carsten Sørensen
Meeting link: You will receive meeting link after registration confirmation process.
Date: May 17, 2023
Time: 14:00 – 15:00 CET

Platforms have, since the turn of the century, been discussed in a relatively small part of the management and here mainly within the context of manufacturing. The advent of smartphone app stores around 2009 has fuelled a great interest in digital platforms coordinating matchmaking and innovation within multi-sided markets. The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the origins of the platform debate in Information Systems, the current state of research within digital platforms, and to further argue for the persistent role of digital platforms within the context of new digital architectural arrangements. The talk is based on research carried out with various industry participants since 2008 and documented in multiple published and ongoing papers, such as those listed below.

Carsten Sørensen is Reader (Associate Professor) in Digital Innovation within Department of Management at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE website). He holds a BSc. in mathematics, an MSc in computer science and a Ph.D. in information systems from Aalborg University, Denmark. Carsten has since the 1980s researched digital innovation, for example, innovating the digital enterprise through mobile technology (enterprisemobilitybook.com), and the innovation dynamics of mobile infrastructures and -platforms (digitalinfrastructures.org). He developed LSEs first
blockchain course, an online course on cryptocurrency disruption, and has been the leading academic securing LSE representation on Hedera’s Governing Council (hedera.com/council). Carsten has published widely within Information Systems since 1989, for example, in MISQ, ISR, JMIS, ISJ, JIT, Information & Organization, The Information Society, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, and Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (scholar.carstensorensen.com). Carsten has extensive experience managing national, EU, and industry research projects. He has for over 30 years been actively engaged in academic consultancy, assessing digital startups,
and executive education with a broad range of organisations – IMF, Microsoft, Google, PA Consulting, Huawei, Orange, Vodafone, Intel, GEMS, to name just a few.

References
Åkesson, M., C. Sørensen, & C. Ihlström Eriksson (2018): Ambidexterity under Digitalization: A Tale of Two Decades of New Media at a Swedish
Newspaper. Scandinavian Journal of Management. vol. 34, pp. 276-288.
Brodie, A., Brennan, D. E., and Sørensen, C. 2019. “Tides of Disruption: How to Navigate Business Transformation,” Gowling WLG & LSE Consulting,
London. http://stuff.carstensorensen.com/GowlingLSE-Report2019.zip
de Reuver, M., C. Sørensen, & R. Basole (2018): The Digital Platform: A Research Agenda. Journal of Information Technology, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 124-135.
Eaton, B., S. Elaluf-Calderwood, C. Sørensen, and Y. Yoo (2015): Distributed Tuning of Boundary Resources: The Case of Apple’s iOS Service
System. MIS Quarterly (MISQ), vol:39, no:1, pp: 217-243.
Karhu, K., R. Gustafsson, B. Eaton, O. Henfridsson, & C. Sørensen (2020): Four Tactics for Implementing a Balanced Digital Platform Strategy. MIS
Quarterly Executive, vol. 19, no. 2.
Kazan, E., C.-W. Tan, E. T. K. Lim, C. Sørensen, & J. Damsgaard (2018): Disentangling Digital Platform Competition: The Case of UK Mobile Payment
Platforms. Journal of Management Information Systems — special issue on Financial IS, Underlying Technologies, and the FinTech Revolution,
vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 180-219.
Klein, M., C. Sørensen, A. Freitas, S. Elaluf-Calderwood, & C. D. Pedron (2020): Understanding controversies in digital platform innovation processes:
The Google Glass Case. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, no. 152.
Lacity, M., R. Sabherwal, & C. Sørensen (2019): Special Issue Editorial: Delivering Business Value through Enterprise Blockchain Applications. MIS
Quarterly Executive, vol. 18, no. 4.
Lyyra, A. K., Koskinen, K. M., Sørensen, C., & Marion, T. (2022). Tethered Architectures in Cyber-Physical System Development: The Case of Tesla’s
Autopilot System. To be submitted to international journal.
Shim, J. P., Avital, M., Dennis, A., Rossi, M., Sørensen, C., & French, A. (2019). The Transformative Effect of the Internet of Things on Business and
Society. Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS), 44(1).
Sørensen, C, M de Reuver, & R. Basole (2015): Mobile Platforms and Ecosystems. Special issue introduction for Journal of Information Technology
(JIT). special issue on mobile platforms and –ecosystems, vol. 30, no 5, pp:195-197, September 2015.
Staub, N., Haki, K., Winter, R., and Sørensen, C. (2023). Acquisition-Driven Evolution of Innovation Platforms: Insights from Salesforce, Currently under
review for International Journal.
Tilson, D., K. Lyytinen, and C. Sørensen (2010): Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda. Information Systems Research (ISR).
vol:21. no:5. pp:748–759.
Tilson, D., Sørensen, C., & Lyytinen, K. (2021). Digitally Induced Industry Paradoxes: Disruptive Innovations of Taxiwork and Music Streaming Beyond
Organizational Boundaries. In R. Bednarek, M. P. e Cunha, J. Schad, & W. K. Smith (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Organizational Paradox:
Learning from Belief and Science, Part A (Vol. 73a, pp. 171-192): Emerald Publishing Limited. Research in The Sociology of Organizations –
Special Issue on Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Organizational Paradox.