In the domain of the platform economy we identified two gaps in the current literature. First the... more In the domain of the platform economy we identified two gaps in the current literature. First the lack of a shared conceptualization of digital platform types. We solve this issue with a taxonomy giving an overview of digital platform attributes, with attribute values expressing the possible variations between platforms depending on their type. These attributes and attribute values are then used in the typology giving a clear overview of all the digital platform types and how they are related to each other. The second gap is the lack of knowledge concerning the software functionalities of digital platforms. We contribute to this with a proposal of a reference ontology allowing for a better communication between developers and other stakeholders. Our envisioned ontology can be used as a common language that all platform stakeholders can understand to facilitate future research and support ontology-driven development of digital platforms.
A sharing platform is a digital platform that facilitates access to underutilized goods by rentin... more A sharing platform is a digital platform that facilitates access to underutilized goods by renting or lending them to others. Users become less dependent on ownership which improves efficiency, sustainability, and the sense of community. The Sharing Economy (SE) is considered a complex domain because value co-creation can occur between multiple types of platform users. Developing platform software that offers the right functionality for the intended digital platform is therefore challenging. To address this complexity, an ontology can be utilized, which is an explicit specification of a conceptualization that provides a controlled vocabulary and shared meaning regarding a domain. The use of a sharing platform ontology allows for more effective communication and knowledge sharing amongst stakeholders in platform development and eventually drives the platform software development process. However, currently, it is not known how to develop such an ontology. In previous research, we dev...
Digital marketplaces, including sharing economy platforms, are digital platforms that may operate... more Digital marketplaces, including sharing economy platforms, are digital platforms that may operate under a large variety of business models. Business model variations are typically conceptualized in taxonomies, but these fall short in describing platform user roles and role-specific digital platform functionality. Reference ontologies offer more potential for capturing this information and thus provide a conceptual basis for model-driven development of platform software. This paper presents an extension of the Digital Platform Ontology (DPO) of Derave, Sales, Gailly and Poels (2020) that is agnostic to business model choices. We extend the DPO with digital platform business model ontology modules, based on an analysis of digital marketplace business models, that was informed by a literature review and a sample of existing digital marketplaces. The new ontology modules can be used as building blocks to model a digital marketplace operating under a chosen business model.
The use of sharing economy platforms like Airbnb and Uber is on the rise. The sharing economy has... more The use of sharing economy platforms like Airbnb and Uber is on the rise. The sharing economy has emerged as a viable alternative to fulfilling a variety of consumer needs, ranging from prepared meals to cars to overnight accommodations, that were previously provided by firms. Problematic for academic studies is that concepts including ‘sharing economy’, ‘marketplace’, “on-demand economy” and ‘platform’ are umbrella concepts or “buzz words” and there is no consensus on what they comprise [1–5]. To add to this confusion different platforms want to be under the big tent of the ‘sharing economy,’ because of the positive symbolic value of sharing [6] This lack of agreement has made it difficult for scholars to determine the impact sharing economy and other related concepts have for the study and practice as well as for society at large. It remains difficult to compare different studies and their results since each of them uses a different conceptualization [7]. Clearer definitions can i...
In the domain of the platform economy we identified two gaps in the current literature. First the... more In the domain of the platform economy we identified two gaps in the current literature. First the lack of a shared conceptualization of digital platform types. We solve this issue with a taxonomy giving an overview of digital platform attributes, with attribute values expressing the possible variations between platforms depending on their type. These attributes and attribute values are then used in the typology giving a clear overview of all the digital platform types and how they are related to each other. The second gap is the lack of knowledge concerning the software functionalities of digital platforms. We contribute to this with a proposal of a reference ontology allowing for a better communication between developers and other stakeholders. Our envisioned ontology can be used as a common language that all platform stakeholders can understand to facilitate future research and support ontology-driven development of digital platforms.
A Reference Architecture for Customizable Marketplaces
A broader term used for a platform in the sharing economy is ‘marketplace’. This is a type of e-c... more A broader term used for a platform in the sharing economy is ‘marketplace’. This is a type of e-commerce site or app where transactions for services of-fered by multiple providers are processed by the marketplace operator (e.g. Uber, Airbnb, eBay). Lately the number and popularity of marketplaces has exploded, with more variety and focus on niche markets. Software products like Sharetribe make it possible to create a customized marketplace quick and with few resources. It is, however, not known whether such products cater for the needs of all possible varieties of marketplace, nor how such products can be selected and/or customized to provide the best fit with a particular marketplace. The goal of this PhD project is to design a Software Reference Architecture (SRA) for marketplaces which can be used to select or create the most suitable software product. Our first step in the project is to design a conceptual data model for this SRA based on a marketplace do-main ontology.
Recently the sharing economy has emerged as a viable alternative to fulfilling a variety of consu... more Recently the sharing economy has emerged as a viable alternative to fulfilling a variety of consumer needs. As there is no consensus on the definition of 'sharing economy' we use the term 'marketplace' to refer more specifically to Internet/software-based sharing economy platforms connecting two different market segments. In the field of sharing economy and marketplaces we found a research gap concerning the (socio)technological aspects and the development of marketplaces. A marketplace ontology can help to have a clear account of marketplace concepts which will facilitate communication, consensus and alignment. In this paper we design this marketplace ontology in four steps. First the selection of UFO as foundation and UFO-S as core ontology. Second the search for a set of minimal conditions and properties common for marketplaces and the derivation into competency questions. Third, use the competency questions to identify fragmented sub-ontology pieces called Domain-Related Ontology Patterns (DROPs) and apply them informally by extending UFO-S concepts to design a marketplace domain ontology. This marketplace domain ontology is represented in OntoUML. The last step is the validation of the OntoUML model using expert knowledge.
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Papers by Thomas Derave