HICSS-60 Conference - Minitrack "Managing Platforms and Ecosystems"
HICSS minitrack ’Managing Platforms and Ecosystems
The “Managing Platforms and Ecosystems” minitrack marks its eleventh instalment, offering scholars the opportunity to explore how digital technologies, such as platforms and ecosystems, reshape organizational boundaries and competitive dynamics. Since its inception at HICSS-49 (see Russell et al. 2021), this minitrack has consistently invited research to embrace the socio-technical nature of platforms and their ecosystems. Today, our understanding of modern competition and organizational survival requires an even more solid understanding of how to manage platforms and ecosystems, as digital technologies have enabled unprecedented complementarities within and across industries (e.g., Cusumano et al. 2019, Constantinides et al. 2018). In this new “digital first” economy (Baskerville et al. 2020), transaction and innovation platforms have become dominant forms of organization (Gawer 2021, de Reuver et al. 2018, van Dijck et al. 2018). Importantly, platforms are no longer peripheral tools but increasingly serve as core organising infrastructure across industries.
Moving forward, we are delighted to invite papers and scholars to our HICSS-60 minitrack to take a (critical) stance on the future of platform ecosystems in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and data, calls for resilience and sovereignty in a world facing global challenges, and many more. As scholars in this field, we face a landscape defined by
(1) new phenomena,
providing insights from (2) new empirics,
that might (3) require new methods,
and (4) new theories.
We ask scholars to revisit the foundational assumptions about how platforms and ecosystems are theorised and studied. We seek contributions that build, problematize, and theorise around established concepts such as network externalities and generativity, and explore how these systems are being fundamentally challenged and transformed by new technological forces and evolving socio-technical dynamics. These themes may inspire contributions:
Platform & Ecosystems
We are also happy to provide a fast-track for selected papers to Electronic Markets (EM), which will appear in a special topical collection for this minitrack. EM is considered among the leading journals in information systems (impact factor 7.1). The journal is well known for its research on platforms and ecosystems and, therefore, is a perfect fit for submissions to this minitrack. In the following, we provide exemplary provocations for research at the intersections of platforms and ecosystems that provide first glances into the broad research interest of this minitrack.
We are open to a wide set of methodological approaches, including qualitative, computational, and quantitative empirical research, case-based research, field studies, design science, behavioural decision-making experiments, and conceptual research. Further, we seek contributions that problematize or build on diverse theoretical backgrounds such as management science, information systems, computer science, decision science, system science, organisational design, policy making, innovation and strategy, as well as behavioural economics, to continue the scholarly exploration of concepts, theories, models, and tools for managing platforms and ecosystems. These might lie at the intersection between platforms, ecosystems, and current phenomena.
Platforms & Ecosystems + Artificial Intelligence and Data
In the past decade(s), platform research has introduced important mechanisms for explaining platform emergence and growth, such as network externalities (e.g., Eisenmann et al. 2011; Karhu and Ritala, 2021), generativity (e.g., Fürstenau et al., 2023), or legitimization (Taeuscher and Rothe, 2021). However, the increasing centrality of Artificial Intelligence and digital data suggest that the mechanisms of network externalities (e.g., Eisenmann et al. 2011; Karhu and Ritala, 2021), generativity (e.g., Fürstenau et al., 2023), or legitimization (Taeuscher and Rothe, 2021) may no longer be sufficient to explain how platforms and ecosystems are organized, governed, and transformed. Some research suggests that algorithmic agency is or will replace managerial authority through automated coordination (Wang and Pea 2026; Möhlmann et al., 2021). Other emerging research emphasizes that algorithmic agency augments novel forms of interdependence (Stelmaszak et al., 2025). Determining how these logics coexist is essential for redefining current and future platform theories. This track, therefore, is important as a potential bridge to the gap between traditional research and the post-management era of platform ecosystems, which might lead to rearticulation of enduring and human-centric control (see Ramaul et al., 2025).
As the use of AI grows, platform providers collect more and more data to produce superior machine learning applications (Gregory et al., 2021). This suggests a shift from platforms that manage data towards organizing through it (see Alaimo et al., 2020; Alaimo & Kallinikos, 2024), where data actively shapes what is knowable and actionable within a platform ecosystem (Faraj et al. 2026). Large language model platforms such as ChatGPT indicate a shift from producing value through matching complementors and users to learning how to produce content and services from data of millions of complementors on public infrastructures, including the WWW, over time. Data has become a vital resource and decentralized infrastructures such as the emerging data spaces (Beverungen et al., 2022; Otto and Jarke, 2019) are challenging current forms of organizing ecosystems via polycentric platforms (Pujadas et al. 2024), where data and rights to use data are shared under new terms.
Platforms & Ecosystems + Resilience in a World of Global Challenges
Platform ecosystems are considered vital tools to address grand challenges (Nambisan & George, 2024; Ritala, 2024) and societal challenges (Addo, 2022). Platforms play a pivotal role for our societies and economies to become more resilient when crises challenge established ways of life and work. They help to absorb shocks, adapt, and transform to new stable states, for instance, by coordinating physicians during pandemics (Liu et al. 2023) or data in global supply-chain disruptions (Boh et al. 2023). Most platform theorising, however, has been concerned with mechanisms explaining economic growth and development. In recent decades, we have witnessed a trend towards ever more interoperable IT infrastructures (Tilson et al., 2010), and platform governance levers, such as openness, were optimised with orchestrator and ecosystem benefits in mind (Parker & VanAlstyne, 2018). The resulting interdependencies, however, are increasingly recognised from a national-sovereignty perspective (European Parliament 2025) and constitute emerging factors affecting platform governance. Such tendencies may fragment global markets, driving platform ecosystems towards regional (rather than global) interoperability. We encourage scholars to take a critical view of the role of platforms in global crises, utilising phenomena like ESG reporting, digital product passports, conversations on digital sovereignty, or the circular economy. Here, platforms play a pivotal role in measuring the societal, ecological, and economic impact of market offerings. We therefore seek research on platform ecosystems not just as tools for coordinating efforts to address grand challenges, but also as influential mechanisms shaping global economies and societies.
Platforms & Ecosystems + Innovation, Policy, and Purpose
Platforms and ecosystems promise accessibility and democratization of value creation and capture by inverting the firm (Parker et al. 2017) or producing new labour markets in a sharing economy (Nian et al. 2021). We have, however, also learned that platform providers accumulate power, sometimes leading to the misuse of market dominance (Aral, 2021; Khan, 2019; Gawer, 2022). This is important because platforms and ecosystems affect their environment. Recommendation systems of Instagram, for example, have been perceived as harmful for teenagers, eventually inducing testimonies of leading managers before the US Congress. Peer-to-peer lending platforms affected personal decisions on abortion and women's health (Ozer et al. 2022). Thereby platforms have an impact on important societal issues. Sometimes, however, these impacts are unintended or against initially proclaimed intentions, for instance when crowdfunding platforms fail to tear down socioeconomic barriers (Kim and Hann, 2019). This raises broader questions about the institutional role of platform ecosystems, particularly how emerging algorithmic systems mediate responsibilities in practice, while raising questions about legitimacy, accountability, and the distributions of responsibility across private actors, public authorities, and algorithmic systems. We therefore welcome research that examines the co-evolution of platform ecosystems and innovation, policy, and purpose, including how policy interventions shape platforms and how platforms, in turn, influence innovation, policy, and purpose.
Platforms & Ecosystems + New Methodological Approaches
We are eager to widen the set of methodological approaches, including qualitative, computational, and quantitative empirical research, case-based research, field studies, design science, behavioural decision-making experiments, and conceptual research. At the same time, we recognize that increased availability of usage, process, or environmental data may enable novel approaches to computational research (Berente et al. 2019), potentially allowing the generation of insights that can uncover micro mechanisms in platforms or illuminate the broader complexities of ecosystems. In addition, new ML capabilities provide novel avenues for qualitative inquiries. Simulation-based research, including agent-based modeling and system dynamics, can provide promising ways to examine ecosystem-level dynamics, feedback loops, and unintended consequences, and is therefore also suitable for this track. We also welcome research that reflects on the epistemological implications of studying platforms and ecosystems in data- and AI-mediated environments.
Overall, we encourage authors to submit their best work on managing platforms and ecosystems to our HICSS minitrack and invite them to engage in collaboration between academia, industry, and policymaking for their research. We thereby welcome submissions from industry and around the world.
Bibliography
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Chairs
Vladimir Sobota (primary contact)
University of Glasgow
vladimir.sobota@glasgow.ac.uk
Dr. ir. Vladimir C.M. Sobota is Lecturer in Strategy at the Adam Smith Business School at University of Glasgow. His research examines how platform ecosystems are strategically managed and governed, and how they can serve as tools to coordinate and orchestrate broader innovation activities and stakeholder alignment. His research has been published in Technovation, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and Electronic Markets. He teaches in the area of strategic management and innovation management and was involved in the EU-funded H2020 project ‘IAMRRI’.
Hannes Rothe
University of Duisburg-Essen
hannes.rothe@ris.uni-due.de
Hannes Rothe holds the Chair of Sustainability and Innovation in Digital Ecosystems at Rhine-Ruhr Institute of Information Systems, University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE). He is head of the Place Beyond Bytes at UDE and co-founded the Digital Entrepreneurship Hub with Freie Universität Berlin. Hannes' research interests lie in organizing data and knowledge, digital innovation & entrepreneurship, and digital platforms and ecosystems. His work has been published in journals such as Information Systems Research, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, and others. Hannes holds editorial roles at European Journal of Information Systems and Electronic Markets. He is also a member of the Editorial Review Board at the Information Systems Journal.
Jukka Huhtamäki
Tampere University
jukka.huhtamaki@tuni.fi
Jukka Huhtamäki is a Docent at LUT Business School, Senior Research Fellow at Tampere University and a founding member of the Innovation Ecosystems Network. He takes a computational and data-driven approach to investigate digital ecosystems in various domains. Jukka’s current research is focused on developing data-driven methodologies for investigating platformed organizing and the agency of platforms and communicative AIs in it. His research has appeared in leading conferences and journals including Communications of the ACM, ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems, Journal of Big Data, and Computers in Human Behavior. Dr. Huhtamäki is an Associate Editor of Behaviormetrika.
Virginia Springer
University of Sydney
virginia.springer@sydney.edu.au
Virginia Springer is a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney Business School, where she is a member of the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. Virginia's research interests lie in understanding the nature of B2B platforms, data ecosystems, and the complex socio-technical dynamics that incumbents must navigate during large-scale digital transformation. Her work has been published in journals such as Research Policy, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Electronic Markets, and others
Advisory Committee
Chair of the Committee:
Rahul C. Basole (Accenture AI, USA)
Members of the Committee:
Amrit Tiwana (University of Georgia, USA)
Annabelle Gawer (University of Surrey)
Brandon Barnett (Intel Corporation, USA)
Carmelo Cennamo (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)
Carsten Sørensen (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)
Daniel Fürstenau (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)
Geoff Parker (Dartmouth College, USA)
Hyunwoo Park (Seoul National University, Korea)
Jesus Delvalle (Bayer, Germany)
Jianxi Luo (City University of Hong Kong, China)
Jim Spohrer (Retired, IBM Corporation, USA)
Karl Täuscher (University of Manchester, UK)
Kaisa Still (University of Oulu, Finland)
Mark de Reuver (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands)
Marko Seppänen (Tampere University, Finland)
Martha Russell (Stanford University, USA)
Michael Cusumano (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
Michael Jacobides (London Business School, UK)
Neil Rubens (Transport and Telecommunication Institute, Latvia)
Ola Henfridsson (University of Miami, USA)
Paavo Ritala (LUT University, Finland)
Raul Chao (University of Virginia, USA)
Tero Ojanperä (Silo.AI, Finland)
Timo Ali-Vehmas (Aalto University, Finland)
Fast-Track Option
In collaboration with the Editorial Board of Electronic Markets (EM), we are proud and happy to provide a fast-track option for selected papers to a topical collection at EM. EM is considered among the leading journals in information systems (impact factor 7.1). The journal is well-known for its research on platforms and ecosystems and thereby provides a perfect fit for submissions to this minitrack.