Business ecosystems associated to digital platforms

By definition, by bringing together actors from different sides, platforms are defined by their stakeholders. There are core stakeholders (target customers, core suppliers, value chain partners), but it should not be forgotten that there are also actors with an indirect or external interest in the activities in the platform (competitors, existing customers not addressed through the platform). A platform also defines the relationship with and the channels with the different user groups.

The business ecosystem within a digital platform have to attract, involve and interconnect value creators on both the supply and demand sides. The platform enables the interaction (value co-creation) between two main groups: demand side (target clients = value users) and supply side (value producers).

Network effects of platform has two dimensions: direct network effects explain how a platform attracts other value creators to participate whereas indirect network effects arise from attracting other platforms to contribute.