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Platform Strategy

MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy to host Platform Strategy Summit 

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Summit workshops to address strategic challenges of launching, growing, and defending businesses in a network world

Cambridge, Mass., June 28, 2016—The MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE) will host the fourth annual MIT Platform Strategy Summit (#PlatformSummit) at MIT’s world renowned Media Lab on Friday, July 15, 2016. This event will gather a global community of executives to explore the economics and management of platform-centered markets and discuss their implications for managers, industry and governmental policy.The Platform Strategy Summit comes at a time when business models are rapidly reshaping the structures and conditions of industries such as media, energy, telecommunications, social networking, publishing, academia, gaming, and retail. Many organizations are finding their current business models to be insufficient or ineffective in addressing the challenges and behavior of platform-based markets. 

Summit topics will include, among others: 

  • Future of Workplace Platforms
  • Platform Business Models and Failed Platforms
  • Global Platform Survey
  • The Battle for Developers
  • Transitioning Products and Services to Platforms
  • Turning Brands into Platforms
  • Platform Valuation and Venture Capital
  • Regulations and Pricing Strategies
  • Assessing Platform Opportunities

An all-star cast of speakers will include, among others:

  • Samuel J. Palmisano, former CEO of IBM; Chairman of the Center for Global Enterprise
  • Larry Bohn, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners
  • Teo Correia, Senior Managing Director – Global Consumer Goods & Services and Products, Global Consumer Industries, Accenture
  • Badar Khan, President and CEO, Direct Energy
  • Fabio Rosati, Former CEO and Board Member, Upwork and Elance
  • Simon Torrance, Senior Advisor, Digital Ecosystem Management, BearingPoint
  • Dominic Endicott, General Partner, Nauta Capital
  • Geoff Parker, Professor, Dartmouth College / Visiting Scholar, MIT Sloan
  • Marshall Van Alstyne, Professor, Boston University / Visiting Scientist, MIT Sloan

Andrew McAfee, co-director of IDE, a principal research scientist at MIT Sloan, and co-author of the bestselling Race Against the Machine and The Second Machine Age, will kick off the summit by introducing Palmisano who will discuss the rise of the platform enterprise. 

For more on the day’s agenda and speakers or to register, please visit: http://platforms.mit.edu 

Follow along on Twitter using #PlatformSummit.

The MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE) explores how people and businesses will work, interact, and prosper 
in an era of profound digital transformation. To learn more, please visit: http://ide.mit.edu  

MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at: http://mitsloan.mit.edu