The importance of platforms — especially in government

Battery. iPhone. iOS. Tinder. Uber. Gasoline. Road.

How are these things related to each other?

Besides the fact that you might have used all of them to go on a date last weekend, they are all related in that they are platforms — i.e., systems/ infrastructures that enable more products/services/solutions to be built on top. In fact, many of these platforms are very linked because they sit on top of one another. A battery is a low-level platform that powers machines. On top of that sits an iPhone which enables mobile computing. On top of the iPhone sits the iOS, which enables use of the computing power that exists within the iPhone hardware. And on top of the iOS sits Tinder and Uber, apps that enable third-party entities to offer new services.

That is, we live in a world of platform-ception.

Ok that sounds interesting, but do platforms really matter in the grand scheme of things? Why are we talking about this?

Yes, platforms matter — a lot — and it’s important to be able to recognize them when we see one. Here are a few key reasons:

1. Platforms often redefine how society functions.

Platforms can push the boundaries of what’s possible, enabling new types of interactions and redefining how we live. Automobiles, airplanes, the World Wide Web, and smartphones are just a few of the numerous groundbreaking platforms that have completely changed the way the world works.

2. Platforms democratize innovation.

Even if a platform isn’t completely transformative, it can turbocharge the speed of progress. If platforms are sufficiently open and accessible, they decentralize creative problem solving to the masses, amplifying the aggregate level of contributions to progress (e.g., Wikipedia is a good example of a platform that, through crowdsourcing, has dramatically improved how knowledge is archived, managed, and shared). Furthermore, platforms lower the barrier to innovation by reducing the cost as people can build on existing platforms rather than constantly reinvent the wheel (e.g., having smartphones as a platform allow people to quit worrying about inventing their own mobile hardware and instead focus on building softwares that sit on the existing smartphone platforms).

3. Platforms promote innovation that users themselves who have real needs lead.

One of the biggest sources of waste in innovation is the creation of products and services that no one actually wants. Because platforms decentralize innovation, they allow new solutions to be developed more organically by users who have real problems (or those who are much closer to the needy users). Therefore, platforms have potential to significantly reduce the amount of resources wasted on building unwanted things.

4. If left unrecognized and unchecked, platforms can lead to dangerous concentration of influence.

Platforms can concentrate within their owners enormous control and influence over downstream products/services/people that depend on them. Here’s an example of how small businesses and their revenues are at the mercy of Facebook’s algorithmic changes. Simply put, Facebook has an unsettling amount of control over the cashflow — i.e., the lifeblood — of many small businesses. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of how much influence Facebook has garnered in society in just a little over a decade.

5. Platforms are like a superpower that, if misused, can dismantle us.

Because platforms can be so disruptive, irresponsible creation or deployment of platforms can lead to huge, irrevocable unintended consequences. The Uber vs. taxi drivers is an example of a platform that was started with the positive intentions of helping everyday people get from point A to B more conveniently but that is now cutting off the livelihood of millions of taxi drivers around the world.

Another more existential example is artificial intelligence, an emerging platform that many tech leaders are concerned could wipe out humanity if not developed thoughtfully — so much so that they are putting in $1B to create OpenAI, a new nonprofit whose sole aim is to ensure “responsible artificial intelligence development.”

How can good platforms impact government?

In many ways, platforms are fundamentally antithetic to our concept of government today. Whereas platforms are open, governments are opaque. Whereas platforms encourage bottom-up collaboration, governments epitomize top-down bureaucracy. Whereas platforms are nimble and adaptive, governments are slow and unwieldy.

I believe well-managed platforms have the potential to address many of the existing government inefficiencies and help reimagine its presence and function in society.

On a tactical level, platforms can help improve the quality of specific government initiatives and services. For instance, by building a digital platform that can crowdsource not only the public’s feedback on current government services but also possible solutions to improve government functions (e.g., “OpenIDEO” run by the government to solve public sector problems), the government may be able to learn what’s working and not working more quickly.

More fundamentally, platforms offer a way to generate momentum towards redefining the government’s role beyond the typical services it currently delivers. Today, the government concentrates its efforts on setting the “right” policies and providing the “right” support for the public, spending a ton of efforts theorizing and debating what initiatives electorates likely need and want.

Platforms are an alternative way in which the government can potentially serve the public: instead of the paternalistic approach of determining what services to provide, can the government take on more of a facilitator role in empowering citizens to either invent or improve service offerings? Can local governments make its traffic control data easily accessible through a digital platform so that citizens can build solutions that improve traffic flow? Can the judiciary branch create an open platform around historical legal proceedings so that the market can build a superior, data-driven legal advisory product — improving the accessibility of legal services for all?

This isn’t to say that government should replace all its functions with platforms. In fact, there are are numerous functions (e.g., social security) for which privacy and control are essential. Nevertheless, there are significant parts of the government where openness and decentralization could make it more effective. Thinking seriously through possible applications of platforms to the different government functions will encourage the kinds of transformation governments needs to undergo to better serve our society in the 21st century.