Emerging platforms originate in the developing world. Secondly, platform emergence, in our view, refers to the developmental changes and evolution of platform elements, architecture and governance over time.
Published in Chapter:
Selected Dynamics Impacting Emerging Platform Design in Africa
Wouter J. Grove (University of the Western Cape, South Africa & Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium) and Johan Breytenbach (University of the Western Cape, South Africa)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3234-8.ch007
Abstract
This chapter explores the concept of platforms, which is not clearly defined in the IS literature. Platforms lead to changes in emerging markets, thus disrupting the logic of innovation, yet these platforms seem to be deepening various digital divides. There is an increasing awareness of digital platforms leading to disconnect and isolation in Africa and the creation of a Second Digital Divide. Platform emergence as IS phenomenon is inextricably linked to the design concepts of platform scaling and platform evolution. The design decisions deliberately made to facilitate scaling receives mention first, followed by a dissection of selected aspects of the emergence process that are externally dictated by changes in contexts, ecosystems, actors, or technologies. The positioning of emerging digital platform design within IS contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the impact that digital platforms design decisions may have on vulnerable African citizens with limited media, data, and digital literacy skills.