Symplatform is the place where academic knowledge meets the practice world to foster a critical discussion on what platforms are, how they work and what they can become for people, organizations and our society.
Symplatform is a yearly conference taking place in a phygital format.
Symplatform 2023
The fourth edition of Symplatform will kick off on September 5th in Nantes (France) in a phygital format.
The session will run from 9 am to 5.30 pm in Nantes and on Microsoft Teams.
The session will see a collaborative workshop, a round table and various paper presentations.
The other sessions will be on September 6th, 7th and 8th only digitally, from 1.30 to 4 pm CEST, they will focus on paper presentations.
The detailed program is below.
The Program
Board & Founders
Board & Scientific Committee
Scientific Committee
Go Back
Mission & History
- Sharing knowledge and collaboration between scholars in the field from various perspectives (management, innovation, marketing, IT, human resources, and all other fields impacted by digital platforms) presenting and discussing papers.
- Discuss with and involve managers and entrepreneurs in the conversation, bringing forth their perspectives to guide future research and have a real-world impact.
- Bridging the gap between these two sides creates a knowledge sharing platform where traditional papers, presentations, and keynotes speeches are enriched by collaborative workshops that bring scholars and managers together.
Symplatform was born in the Summer 2019, during the R&D Management Conference in Paris by an idea of Daniel Trabucchi, Tommaso Buganza, Laurent Muzellec and Sèbastien Ronteau willing to create a safe space to talk about platforms, taking both an academic and practical perspective.
The goal was to have "a platform for platforms" based in Europe with a worldwide reach.
The project was created as a joint project developed by Trinity College Dublin, Politecnico di Milano School of Management, and Audencia Business School.
We planned a first edition in Dublin in April 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic changed the plan...and Symplatform became a space for experimentation for digital, physical and phygital formats...that will continue.
Previous Editions
Symplatform was scheduled on April 16th and 17th 2020 @ the Trinity College Dublin. The COVID-19 pandemic changed our plants.
Our debut took place between June 29th and July 3rd 2020in a fully digital format, with the first Symplatform Week.
We had 2 great guest speakers (Roberto Verganti and Wim Vanhaverbeke), the chance to listen to 9 papers and 2 start-ups presenting their challenges. We had more than 150 registered participants and an uncountable number of feedback and reflections on the world of platforms.
Symplatform 2 took place between May 17th and May 20th 2021 in a fully digital format.
We had 2 special guests (Christopher Tucci and Pinar Ozcan), 4 speeches, the chance to listen to 19 papers and 2 start-ups presenting their challenges. We had more than 230 registered participants, more than 100 participants in the single session and an uncountable number of feedback and reflections on the world of platforms.
Go Back
Symplatform 3 took place between April 1st and 6th in a hybrid format. We had our first physical session live from Milan with the Platform Arena and the Platform Acceleration Lab.
We had 4 special guests (Carmelo Cennamo, Marina Planas, Philip Meier and Mareiki Möhlmann), 5 speeches, the chance to listen to 19 papers and 6 start-ups presenting their challenges. We had more than 300 registered participants, more than 100 participants in the single session and an uncountable number of feedback and reflections on the world of platforms.
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What does Platform Thinking mean?
It is the ability to put platform-based mechanisms at the core of digital business transformations in any business.
Daniel Trabucchi and Tommaso Buganza, Professors at Politecnico di Milano, developed an ecosystem of initiatives that puts Platform Thinking at the center (among the others: a Book, 3 MOOCs, 2 Templates and many others).
Find out more at PlatformThinking.eu
Platform Thinking
A business model basically describes the way a company makes money. Yet, often we use digital services for free (e.g. Facebook, Google or WhatsApp) or for what seems to be a relatively minor price (e.g. Blablacar, Airbnb, and Amazon). Digital business models are different to traditional business models.
Digital Business Models explains the key challenges and characteristics of the various business models that are used by digital businesses. These companies can be a source of inspiration for traditional bricks-and-mortar companies that aim to go digital and/or revamp their traditional business model. Most businesses rely on some form of digital technology for their marketing communication, customer relationship management, supply chain or distribution, yet digital transformation entails a complete reassessment of the way value is created and captured. Digital Business Models details the successful customer acquisition tactics and the development of business ecosystems by digital players.
Digital Business Models