The Center for Global Enterprise partners with BU and MIT on emerging platform economy

BOSTON – The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), a private non-profit research institution devoted to the study of the contemporary corporation, is honored to partner with Boston University Questrom School of Business and the MIT Initiative for the Digital Economy for a two-day conference in Boston to debate the business, economic and policy implications of the emerging platform economy.

The Platform Strategy Research Symposium and the MIT Platform Strategy Summit will take place over two days, July 9 and 10. The first day is designed to provide a forum for academics to share their latest research and will be held at Boston University Questrom School of Business’s Executive Leadership Center. The second day is designed to provide a forum for executives to share experiences and challenges and will be held at the MIT Media Laboratory. The conference is part of the CGE’s 2015 research agenda to explore the implications of the Emerging Platform Economy.

Platform businesses can be found in a growing number of industries including social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn); internet auctions and retail (Amazon, eBay, Angie’s List); and urban transportation (Uber, Lyft, Sidecar), among many others. Organizations are finding their current business models to be increasingly insufficient or ineffective for addressing the challenges and behavior of platform based markets. Understanding the power and value of the multi-sided platform economy and the implications on incumbent enterprises has never been more important.

The 2-day program will gather experts, academics and leading business figures and will include an inaugural presentation of the CGE’s Global Platform Survey and a keynote address from Jean Tirole, recipient of the 2014 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics and highly cited platform scholar. In addition, the conference agenda covers a wide range of topics with a lens on the platform economy including:

· Growing economic significance of platform business models
· Globalization of platform businesses
· Survey of regional platform business dynamics in Europe, China, India and Africa
· New areas of platform rapid growth including transportation, healthcare, money and work
· Incumbent firm strategies for meeting platform competition

To learn more or to schedule an interview with Peter Evans, Vice President of the Center for Global Enterprise and project leader of the Emerging Platform Economy, please contact Kristen Palmisano at: kpalmisano@thecge.net

About the Center for Global Enterprise:

The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of the contemporary corporation, globalization, economic trends, and their impact on society. The CGE was established to help educate societal stakeholders ­ as well as individuals from the private sector, the public sector, and academia ­ on the globally integrated economy and its promise for a better future. Fundamental to the Center’s educational efforts will be identifying the many ways in which the world has been transformed by the globalization of business and pinpointing the business practices, leadership styles and innovations that will help unleash even greater opportunity and prosperity.