Digital platform (infrastructure)

A digital platform is an online infrastructure that is built on software that let users engage with one another and do business with one another.

As is the case with search engines, digital platforms can function as data aggregators to assist users in navigating large amounts of information; as matchmakers to enable transactions between users; as collaborative tools to support the development of new content; and as online communities, digital platforms can function as online communities. There is also the possibility for digital platforms to integrate several of these characteristics, such as in the case of social media platforms that allow users to both search for information and connect with other users.

In their data architecture, digital platforms have the ability to be more or less decentralised, and their governance models may be based on more or less dispersed decision-making.