Sustainable Platform Economy: Connections with the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The platform economy is growing exponentially while creating expectations for its potential to contribute to a sustainable development. However, research aimed at showing the potential contribution of each platform’s business model to sustainable development is needed. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are driving the policy agenda, but it remains unclear how far they encourage a sustainable platform economy. First, this article aims to study how each different type of platform contributes to sustainable development. Second, it analyses if and how the factors that contribute to the sustainable design of platforms are considered in SDGs. The paper departs from a framework of sustainable democratic qualities of the platform economy that considers governance, economic sustainability, technological and data policies, social responsibility, and external impact dimensions. The study is based on an empirical analysis of 60 platforms. The results show that a sustainable design of a platform economy promotes sustainable development. Furthermore, the contributions of the sustainable dimensions of a platform to SDGs are mainly connected to the impact and responsibility and the economic model, but governance and data dimensions are not present in the SDGs. This suggests that SDGs should improve their digital perspective to intertwine better with the sustainable platforms.

A framework for assessing the commons qualities of citizen science: comparative analysis of five digital platforms

“…The present exploratory study represents an attempt to develop a framework for surveying the commons' qualities of CS practices. The framework, already applied in the study of peer-to-peer production models (Fuster Morell et al, 2020;Fuster Morell & Espelt, 2019), focuses on openness at the governance, technological and impact levels. Our netnographic analysis builds on 5 digital mapping projects as running examples, at the time of data collection, to provide points of comparison and illustration that shed light on the diversity of openness and commons' qualities of CS practices.…”

“…It can help to visualize the commons' qualities of collaborative digital initiatives, differentiate models, provide insights for the sustainability of their design, and inform its technological development. It has been applied to the analysis of the platform economy ecosystem in Barcelona (Spain) (Fuster Morell & Espelt, 2019); to explore how the sustainable design of a platform economy could contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (Fuster Morell et al, 2020); and to survey the qualities, practices and evolution of urban food networks (Moreira & Fuster Morell, 2020).…”

Data for Sustainable Platform Economy: Connections between Platform Models and Sustainable Development Goals

“…Our methodology is based on a multidisciplinary balance of the platform economy that considers three key two-headed dimensions of ( 1) governance and economic model, (2) socio-economic impact, and (3) data and technology policies [27] and how these three areas relate to global goals defined in the SDGs [18]. This multidisciplinary balance serves as an analytical tool that can contribute to differentiate models and provide insights about their sustainability regarding the SDGs (Figure 2): (1) The governance subdimension examines platform provision governance (legal constitution, participation policies, and transparency) as well as platform interactional level governance (matching the grade in which users participate with platform functionalities).…”

“…Fuster Morell et al [18] argue that sustainable platform economy design can promote and contribute to the sustainable dimensions of SDGs, particularly in regard to its economic model, social responsibility, and impact. However, in the SDGs, data and governance dimensions are not represented.…”

Visibility Layers: A Framework for Facing the Complexity of the Gender Gap in Wikipedia Content

“…The theoretical systematisation of this gap is very relevant in the context of the platform economy, i.e., the current social process where activities to exchange, share and collaborate that are associated with production and consumption increasingly rely on digital infrastructures (Algan et al, 2013;Fuster Morell et al, 2020). The main result of this article is a 'multi-layer analysis' of how one of the oldest and more influential peer production platforms is shaping women's visibility.…”