The application of big data, new algorithms, and cloud computing will change the nature of work and the structure of the economy. But the exact nature of that change will be determined by the social, political, and business choices we make.

A digital platform economy is emerging. Companies such as Amazon, Etsy, Facebook, Google, Salesforce, and Uber are creating online structures that enable a wide range of human activities. This opens the way for radical changes in how we work, socialize, create value in the economy, and compete for the resulting profits. Their effects are distinct and identifiable, though certainly not the only part of the rapidly reorganizing global economy.

Digital platforms are multisided digital frameworks that shape the terms on which participants interact with one another. The initial powerful information technology transformation of services emerged with the Internet and was, in part, a strategy response to intense price-based competition among producers of relatively similar products.