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Leveraging digital platforms for public good: Stories of positive impact from India
This is an excerpt of an article written for The Conversation by Suchit Ahuja, Assistant Professor, Business Technology Management, Concordia University and Yolande E. Chan, Dean, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University.
Digital platforms such as Uber, Airbnb, WeChat and TaskRabbit have changed the world by creating new economic opportunities through gig work culture and enabling a sharing economy. However, concerns remain about how these platforms may exploit gig workers and customers if driven purely by profit.
While these platforms are great at creating value by bringing buyers, sellers and consumers together, their benefits often don’t transcend to their ecosystem. They have been criticized for their poor social and environmental impacts, exclusionary practices, digital colonialism and surveillance capabilities.
To leverage the power of platforms for social good, it’s important to design socially-oriented platforms within ecosystems of shared value that target the UN’s sustainable development goals.
