ISO/IEC DTS 5928

Information technology — Cloud computing and distributed platforms — Taxonomy for digital platforms

Technologies de l'information — Informatique en nuage et plates-formes distribuées — Taxonomie pour les plates-formes numériques

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• ICS: 35.210 - Cloud computing
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38 - Cloud computing and distributed platforms
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38 - Cloud computing and distributed platforms
• Current Stage: 5020 - FDIS ballot initiated: 2 months. Proof sent to secretariat
• Start Date: 12-Apr-2023
• Completion Date: 12-Apr-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

1 ISO/IEC draft DTS 5928
2 ISO TC /IEC JTC 1/SC 38/WG 3
3 Secretariat: ANSI
4 Date: 2022-12-202023-03-28
5 Title: Information technology — Cloud computing and distributed
6 platforms — Taxonomy for digital platforms

8 DTSTechnologies de l'information — Informatique en nuage et plates-formes distribuées —

9 Taxonomie pour les plates-formes numériques
12 Warning for WDs and CDs

13 This document is not an ISO International Standard. It is distributed for review and comment. It is subject to

14 change without notice and may not be referred to as an International Standard.

15 Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of

16 which they are aware and to provide supporting documentation.
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ISO/IEC draft DTS 5928
1 © ISO/IEC 2023

2 All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this

3 publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

4 including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can

5 be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.

6 ISO copyright office
7 CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
8 CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
9 Phone: + 41 22 749 01 11
10 EmailE-mail: [e-mail]
11 Website: www.iso.orgwww.iso.org
12 Published in Switzerland
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ISO/IEC draft DTS 5928
13 Contents

16 2 Normative references ............................................................................................................................................................ 1

17 3 Terms and definitions ........................................................................................................................................................... 2

18 3.1 Basic terms ................................................................................................................................................................................ 2

19 3.2 Terms relating to platform participation .................................................................................................................... 2

20 3.3 Terms related to digital technology platforms ......................................................................................................... 3

21 3.4 Terms related to digital economic platforms ............................................................................................................ 3

22 4 Abbreviated terms ................................................................................................................................................................. 4

23 5 Digital platform overview ................................................................................................................................................... 6

24 5.1 General ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

25 5.1.1 Meanings of “platform” ................................................................................................................................................... 6

26 5.1.2 Meanings of “digital platform” ..................................................................................................................................... 7

27 5.2 The ambiguity of “platform” for digital services ...................................................................................................... 7

28 5.3 Characteristics of digital platforms ................................................................................................................................ 9

29 5.3.1 Network effects ................................................................................................................................................................... 9

30 5.3.2 “Private” vs “Open” platforms ...................................................................................................................................... 9

31 5.3.3 Cross-cutting considerations .................................................................................................................................... 10

32 6 Digital technology platforms .......................................................................................................................................... 10

33 6.1 General ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

34 6.2 Cloud service capabilities types indicative of digital technology platforms ............................................ 12

35 6.3 Cloud services offering infrastructure capabilities type ................................................................................... 13

36 6.4 Cloud services offering platform capabilities type .............................................................................................. 13

37 6.4.1 Platform as a Service (PaaS) ...................................................................................................................................... 13

38 6.4.2 Data Storage as a Service (DSaaS) ........................................................................................................................... 14

39 6.4.3 Communications as a Service (CaaS) ..................................................................................................................... 14

40 6.4.4 Emerging cloud services with platform capabilities ...................................................................................... 14

41 6.5 Software development platforms ................................................................................................................................ 15

42 6.6 Example of digital technology platforms in context ............................................................................................ 16

43 6.7 One-sided and multi-sided technology platforms ................................................................................................ 17

44 6.7.1 One-sided technology platform ................................................................................................................................ 18

45 6.7.2 Two-sided or Multi-sided digital technology platform ................................................................................. 18

46 7 Digital economic platforms ............................................................................................................................................. 18

47 7.1 General ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

48 7.2 Common characteristics of digital economic platforms .................................................................................... 18

49 7.2.1 Digital economic platforms as matchmakers .................................................................................................... 18

50 7.2.2 Payment for use of a digital economic platform ............................................................................................... 19

51 7.3 Taxonomy of digital economic platforms ................................................................................................................. 20

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ISO/IEC draft DTS 5928

52 7.3.1 Exchange platform ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

53 7.3.2 Application marketplace ............................................................................................................................................. 22

54 7.3.3 Payment platform .......................................................................................................................................................... 22

55 7.3.4 Ad-funded platforms ..................................................................................................................................................... 25

56 8 Impact of platform characteristics on participant behaviour ........................................................................ 27

57 8.1 General ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 27

58 8.2 Network effects .................................................................................................................................................................... 27

59 8.2.1 Positive network effects .............................................................................................................................................. 27

60 8.2.2 Negative network effects ............................................................................................................................................ 28

61 8.2.3 Impact of network effects ........................................................................................................................................... 28

62 8.3 Customer inertia .................................................................................................................................................................. 28

63 8.4 Stickiness ................................................................................................................................................................................. 28

64 9 Observations and conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 29

65 (informative) ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 30

66 Annex A Illustrative taxonomic hierarchies .......................................................................................................................... 31

67 (informative) ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 40

68 Annex B Comparison of monetisation and network effects ........................................................................................... 41

69 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 43

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ISO/IEC draft DTS 5928
71 Foreword

72 ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a and IEC (the International Electrotechnical

73 Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide federation of national

74 standardsstandardization. National bodies (that are members of ISO member bodies). The workor IEC

75 participate in the development of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO

76 technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has

77 been established has the right to be represented on that committee. Internationalby the respective

78 organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees

79 collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-

80 governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the

81 International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

82 The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are

83 described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the

84 different types of ISO documentsdocument should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance

85 with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives 2 (see

86 www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).

87 Attention is drawnISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that some of the elementsimplementation

88 of this document may beinvolve the subjectuse of (a) patent rights. ISO(s). ISO and IEC take no position

89 concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the

90 date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be

91 required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent

92 the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents

93 and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent

94 rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the

95 Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

96 Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not

97 constitute an endorsement.

98 For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and

99 expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World

100 Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see

101 www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see

102 www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.

103 This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,

104 Subcommittee SC 38, Cloud Computingcomputing and Distributed Platformsdistributed platforms.

105 Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A

106 complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.htmlwww.iso.org/members.html

107 and www.iec.ch/national-committees.
108
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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
Introduction

Technologies such as cloud computing are supporting the evolution of digital business and accelerating

the shift to living and working (in part) online, in ways that would have been impossible a few years ago.

Increased debate about socio-technical developments always runs the risk of multi-disciplinary

terminological confusion, due to the potential for the same word to be used for two or more distinct

concepts. Moreover, polysemy (the capacity for a word or phrase to have multiple related meanings) is

an attribute of many words. Any attempt to provide a single definition for a polysemic word needs to be

be sufficiently broad to account for all potential meanings.

Terms with alternative meanings in economic, societal, political, regulatory and technical contexts are

being labelled with the same or similar names.

Adding clarity on concepts and definitions can assist in the formulation of well-informed policies in

important areas such as security, privacy and governance. One of the terms that has been at the forefront

of these changes is “platform”.

Note that the economic, societal, political, regulatory and technical uses of the word “platform” predate

cloud computing by many years.

Taxonomic structures serve many purposes and their topological structure, incorporation (or not) of

orthogonal dimensions (as we see here),, levels of refinement, and the decision about the order and

approach in which to apply the structuring factors lead to very different outcomes. The terminology and

concepts presented in this document can be combined in different ways, depending on the problem being

considered, and the factors that potentially influence the decisions driving such structuring are presented

with the related concepts.

In a situation where two or more distinct interpretations of the word “platform” are relevant, but only

one is taken into account, or where collaborators used two distinct interpretations at cross-purposes,

confusion can arise.

Therefore, it is important to understand the difference between the technical, economic and general uses

of the word platform in the context of digital services.

The audience for this document is technologists, economists, policy makers, social scientists and others

who wish to precisely and unambiguously use these terms, (e.g. in multi-disciplinary conversations.).

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
Information technology — Cloud computing and distributed
platforms — Taxonomy for digital platforms
1 Scope

This document provides definitions for termsspecifies a taxonomy related to digital platforms.

Specifically, this document provides, by providing definitions and supporting information that

disambiguates different uses of the term “platform” as it applies to digital services (such as cloud

computing and other distributed computing systems).
2 Normative References
32 There are no normative references in this document.
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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content

constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For

undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO/IEC 22123-1, Information technology — Cloud computing — Part 1: Vocabulary

ISO/IEC TS 23167, Information technology — Cloud computing — Common technologies and techniques

43 Terms and Definitionsdefinitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 22123-1,

ISO/IEC TS 23167 and the following apply.

ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
Field Code Changed
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org
Field Code Changed
4.23.1 Basic terms
3.1.1
digital service

service offered by one party to another party by means of digital hardware or software technology, or

both, including communication over a network

Note 1 to entry: In the context of this document, a service comprises one or more digital capabilities such as a

cloud computing, edge computing, or some other distributed computing capability. Such a service will be subject to

contract and typically have defined qualities of service, terms, and conditions for use.

Note 2 to entry: Cloud service, edge service, network service, broadcast service, and mobile service are all types

of digital service. Not all types are discussed in this document.
3.1.2
digital platform
distributed platform

set of digital services (3.1.1(3.1.1) that collectively exhibits the characteristics of either (or both) a digital

economic platform (3.4.2(3.4.2) creating a multi-sided market, or a digital technology platform

(3.3.1(3.3.1) providing a means to create applications

Note 1 to entry: A digital platform enables and assists other participant digital services in conducting business

with their customers, either by creating and facilitating a multi-sided market for those services, or by enabling the

technological creation and operation of those services, or both.

Note 2 to entry: “Distributed platform” is often used as a synonym to emphasise those elements of a digital service,

such as edge computing and mobile computing that go beyond classical datacentres of cloud computing.

4.33.2 Terms relating to platform participation
3.2.1
platform participant

party that makes use of or otherwise engages with a digital platform (3.1.2(3.1.2)

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
Note 1 to entry: A party can be an individual end user or organisation.

Note 2 to entry: A platform participant can be a member of one or more participant groups (3.2.2(3.2.2).

3.2.2
participant group

group of platform participants (3.2.1(3.2.1) that share a common set of business requirements that differ

significantly from the requirements of one or more other groups of platform participants (3.2.1(3.2.1)

Note 1 to entry: Participant groups are not specific to digital services.

Note 2 to entry: Examples of such participant groups include purchasers, vendors, and developers. Purchasers are

platform participants seeking to acquire something, vendors are platform participants seeking to offer something,

while developers are platform participants seeking to create and sell (or operate) software (or services). Thus, the

members of each group have a common objective which is not shared with members of the other participant groups.

4.43.3 Terms related to digital technology platforms
3.3.1
digital technology platform

digital platform (3.1.2(3.1.2) that provides engineering components required to support

applications and services

Note 1 to entry: Elements provided can include cloud computing resources (see ISO/IEC 22123 and ISO/IEC

17789), which can include execution environments, storage, networking, location and mapping services, graphics

rendering and specialist processing (such as machine learning or quantum computing).

Note 2 to entry: Popular examples of such digital technology platforms include varieties of the cloud service

categories “infrastructure capabilities type” and “platform capabilities type” (see ISO/IEC 22123-1).

Note 3 to entry: This definition is distinct from those in ISO/IEC TS 25025:2021 and ISO/IEC TS 25011:2017.

3.3.2
software development platform

digital technology platform (Error! Reference source not found.)(3.3.1) that enables or

assists the development of software code
4.53.4 Terms related to digital economic platforms
3.4.1
economic platform

set of services that provide market intermediation to reduce search and/or transactions

costs

Note 1 to entry: Platforms are environments, computing or otherwise, that connect different groups and derive

benefits from others participating in the platform (Azoulay & Tucker)

Note 2 to entry: A shopping mall provides a non-computing economic platform, connecting merchants (participant

group) with visiting customers (participant group) and providing distinct services to each participant group such

as a pleasant environment, electricity, storage, parking, network connectivity, and security.

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
3.4.2
digital economic platform

one or more digital platforms (3.1.2(3.1.2) which provide goods, services or licensed rights

to two or more distinct participant groups (3.2.2(3.2.2) who need each other in some way

Note 1 to entry: Examples of licensed rights can include the right to view a movie, to use commercial business data,

or to use specific software, each delivered as a license.

Note 2 to entry: While a digital economic platform is constructed with digital technology, often on top of a digital

technology platform (Error! Reference source not found.),(3.3.1), this does not mean that the digital economic

platform is a subtype of digital technology platform (any more than a car is a subtype of a road); these two terms

are orthogonal.

Note 3 to entry: A digital economic platform can optionally comprise more than one digital platform. For instance,

an exchange platform can be combined with a payment platform and appear to the end-user as a single digital

economic platform.
3.4.3
ad-funded platform

digital economic platform (3.4.2(3.4.2) where a platform generates revenue by charging

advertisers to show advertisements to customers of the service

Note 1 to entry: Advertisers are one participant group, those who view the advertisements are a second, and those

who display the advertisements alongside their own content are a third.
3.4.4
exchange platform

digital economic platform (3.4.2(3.4.2) which brings together vendors and potential

purchasers and enables them to sell and buy goods and services, potentially generating value for the

platform provider by intermediating the transaction
3.4.5
payment platform

digital economic platform (3.4.2(3.4.2) which facilitates the secure completion of payments

between platform participants (3.2.1(3.2.1)
3.4.6
application marketplace

digital economic platform (3.4.2(3.4.2) where the platform provides means for software

developers and publishers to provide applications to customers via the platform

Note 1 to entry: This document describes this concept in the economic platform domain. See also ISO/IEC 19944-

1:2020, 3.2.2 for the definition in the device platform domain.
54 Abbreviated Termsterms
AIaaS artificial intelligence as a service
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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
CaaS communications as a service
CaaS containers as a service
CSC cloud service customer
CSP cloud service provider
DSaaS data storage as a service
FaaS function as a service
GPU graphics processing unit
IaaS infrastructure as a service
MLaaS machine learning as a service
PaaS platform as a service
QCaaS quantum computing as a service
SaaS software as a service
SME Small- or Medium-sized Enterprise

Note that the acronym CaaS is unfortunately used by industry for multiple purposes, two of which are listed here,

so it is usually best to use the correct expanded term to ensure the reader has the correct context.

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
AIaaS artificial intelligence as a service
CaaS communications as a service
CaaS containers as a service
CSC cloud service customer
CSP cloud service provider
DSaaS data storage as a service
FaaS function as a service
GPU graphics processing unit
IaaS infrastructure as a service
MLaaS machine learning as a service
PaaS platform as a service
QCaaS quantum computing as a service
SaaS software as a service
SME Small- or medium-sized enterprise

The acronym CaaS is unfortunately used by industry for multiple purposes, two of which are listed

here, so it is best to use the expanded term to ensure the reader has the correct context.

65 Digital platform overview
6.15.1 General

The term “platform” is used in the English language with a very wide range of meanings, and some of

these uses are ambiguous in the context of online or digital services.

This document defines a taxonomy of terms for digital platforms of various kinds, and shows how these

terms can be structured into a hierarchy (see Annex A).Annex A).
6.1.15.1.1 Meanings of “platform”

These uses include but are not limited to the following. These groupings are potentially overlapping, they

are not mutually exclusive.

— The traditional non-ICT uses of the term, such as a wooden platform to stand on, a political platform

of policies, or a railway platform from which trains will depart, highlight the highly context-

dependent use of the word “platform”.

— There are online, broadcast and printed media and public discourse settings, that serve as platforms

for free expression, expression of political and social viewpoints, artistic and musical expression,

discussion and debate. This includes social media.

— There are what we definecan be defined as “economic platforms”, which is a way to describe certain

business approaches that create multi-sided markets, where two or more distinct groups of

participants can do some kind of business together via an intermediary platform. This means that the

platform brings together two or more different participant groups and provides a meeting place to

facilitate interactions between the participant groups through the platform. Platforms serving two

participant groups are called two-sided platforms, and more generally platforms serving two or more

such groups are called multi-sided platforms.

— There are many examples of two-sided markets supported by intermediary platforms, including but

not limited to: publishers, academic journals and conferences; airports and ports; stock markets,

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:(E)
auction houses and real
...

FINAL
TECHNICAL ISO/IEC DTS
DRAFT
SPECIFICATION 5928
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38
Information technology — Cloud
Secretariat: ANSI
computing and distributed platforms
Voting begins on:
2023-04-12 — Taxonomy for digital platforms
Voting terminates on:
Technologies de l'information — Informatique en nuage et plates-
2023-06-07
formes distribuées — Taxonomie pour les plates-formes numériques
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO
SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION
OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH
THEY ARE AWARE AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING
DOCUMENTATION.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
Reference number
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO-
ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES,
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON
OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN-
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. © ISO/IEC 2023
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
FINAL
TECHNICAL ISO/IEC DTS
DRAFT
SPECIFICATION 5928
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38
Information technology — Cloud
Secretariat: ANSI
computing and distributed platforms
Voting begins on:
— Taxonomy for digital platforms
Voting terminates on:
Technologies de l'information — Informatique en nuage et plates-
formes distribuées — Taxonomie pour les plates-formes numériques
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All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may

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the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below

or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO
ISO copyright office
SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION
OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH
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THEY ARE AWARE AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING
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DOCUMENTATION.
Phone: [phone]
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
Reference number
Email: [e-mail]
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO­
ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
Website: www.iso.org
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES,
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON
Published in Switzerland
OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN­
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. © ISO/IEC 2023
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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v

Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. vi

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions .................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3.1 Basic terms ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

3.2 Terms relating to platform participation ....................................................................................................................... 2

3.3 Terms related to digital technology platforms .......................................................................................................... 2

3.4 Terms related to digital economic platforms .............................................................................................................. 2

4 Abbreviated terms ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

5 Digital platform overview ........................................................................................................................................... ...............................4

5.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

5.1.1 Meanings of “platform” ................................................................................................................................................. 4

5.1.2 Meanings of “digital platform” ............................................................................................................................... 5

5.2 The ambiguity of “platform” for digital services ..................................................................................................... 5

5.3 Characteristics of digital platforms ..................................................................................................................................... 6

5.3.1 Network effects ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

5.3.2 “Private” vs “Open” platforms ................................................................................................................................ 7

5.3.3 Cross­cutting considerations .................................................................................................................................. 7

6 Digital technology platforms ..................................................................................................................................................................8

6.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

6.2 Cloud service capabilities types indicative of digital technology platforms .................................. 9

6.3 Cloud services offering infrastructure capabilities type .............................................................................. 10

6.4 Cloud services offering platform capabilities type ............................................................................................. 10

6.4.1 Platform as a Service (PaaS) ................................................................................................................................. 10

6.4.2 Data Storage as a Service (DSaaS) ................................................................................................................... 11

6.4.3 Communications as a Service (CaaS) ............................................................................................................ 11

6.4.4 Emerging cloud services with platform capabilities ....................................................................... 11

6.5 Software development platforms .......................................................................................................................................12

6.6 Example of digital technology platforms in context ..........................................................................................12

6.7 One-sided and multi-sided technology platforms ................................................................................................ 13

6.7.1 One-sided technology platform .......................................................................................................................... 14

6.7.2 Two-sided or Multi-sided digital technology platform ................................................................. 14

7 Digital economic platforms ...................................................................................................................................................................14

7.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14

7.2 Common characteristics of digital economic platforms................................................................................. 14

7.2.1 Digital economic platforms as matchmakers ........................................................................................ 14

7.2.2 Payment for use of a digital economic platform .................................................................................. 15

7.3 Taxonomy of digital economic platforms ..................................................................................................................... 16

7.3.1 Exchange platform ......................................................................................................................................................... 16

7.3.2 Application marketplace .......................................................................................................................................... 17

7.3.3 Payment platform ........................................................................................................................................................... 18

7.3.4 Ad­funded platforms ....................................................................................................................................................20

8 Impact of platform characteristics on participant behaviour .........................................................................21

8.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 21

8.2 Network effects ...................................................................... ............................................................................................................. 22

8.2.1 Positive network effects ........................................................................................................................................... 22

8.2.2 Negative network effects ......................................................................................................................................... 22

8.2.3 Impact of network effects ....................................................................................................................................... 22

8.3 Customer inertia ................................................................................................................................................................................ 23

8.4 Stickiness .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23

iii
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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)

9 Observations and conclusion ...............................................................................................................................................................23

Annex A (informative) Illustrative taxonomic hierarchies .....................................................................................................25

Annex B (informative) Comparison of monetisation and network effects .............................................................30

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................32

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical

Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are

members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical

committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical

activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international

organizations, governmental and non­governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the

work.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance

are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria

needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in

accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or

www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).

ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the

use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of

any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC

had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However,

implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained

from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall

not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not

constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and

expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to

the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see

www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding­standards.

This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,

Subcommittee SC 38, Cloud computing and distributed platforms.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards

body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and

www.iec.ch/national­committees.
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Introduction

Technologies such as cloud computing are supporting the evolution of digital business and accelerating

the shift to living and working (in part) online, in ways that would have been impossible a few years

ago.

Increased debate about socio-technical developments always runs the risk of multi-disciplinary

terminological confusion, due to the potential for the same word to be used for two or more distinct

concepts. Moreover, polysemy (the capacity for a word or phrase to have multiple related meanings) is

an attribute of many words. Any attempt to provide a single definition for a polysemic word needs to be

sufficiently broad to account for all potential meanings.

Terms with alternative meanings in economic, societal, political, regulatory and technical contexts are

being labelled with the same or similar names.

Adding clarity on concepts and definitions can assist in the formulation of well-informed policies

in important areas such as security, privacy and governance. One of the terms that has been at the

forefront of these changes is “platform”.

Note that the economic, societal, political, regulatory and technical uses of the word “platform” predate

cloud computing by many years.

Taxonomic structures serve many purposes and their topological structure, incorporation (or not) of

orthogonal dimensions, levels of refinement, and the decision about the order and approach in which to

apply the structuring factors lead to very different outcomes. The terminology and concepts presented

in this document can be combined in different ways, depending on the problem being considered, and

the factors that potentially influence the decisions driving such structuring are presented with the

related concepts.

In a situation where two or more distinct interpretations of the word “platform” are relevant, but only

one is taken into account, or where collaborators used two distinct interpretations at cross­purposes,

confusion can arise.

Therefore, it is important to understand the difference between the technical, economic and general

uses of the word platform in the context of digital services.

The audience for this document is technologists, economists, policy makers, social scientists and others

who wish to precisely and unambiguously use these terms (e.g. in multi-disciplinary conversations).

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
Information technology — Cloud computing and
distributed platforms — Taxonomy for digital platforms
1 Scope

This document specifies a taxonomy related to digital platforms, by providing definitions and

supporting information that disambiguates different uses of the term platform as it applies to digital

services (such as cloud computing and other distributed computing systems).
2 Normative references

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content

constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For

undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO/IEC 22123­1, Information technology — Cloud computing — Part 1: Vocabulary

ISO/IEC TS 23167, Information technology — Cloud computing — Common technologies and techniques

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 22123-1, ISO/IEC TS 23167

and the following apply.

ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org
3.1 Basic terms
3.1.1
digital service

service offered by one party to another party by means of digital hardware or software technology, or

both, including communication over a network

Note 1 to entry: In the context of this document, a service comprises one or more digital capabilities such as a

cloud computing, edge computing, or some other distributed computing capability. Such a service will be subject

to contract and typically have defined qualities of service, terms, and conditions for use.

Note 2 to entry: Cloud service, edge service, network service, broadcast service, and mobile service are all types

of digital service. Not all types are discussed in this document.
3.1.2
digital platform
distributed platform

set of digital services (3.1.1) that collectively exhibits the characteristics of either (or both) a digital

economic platform (3.4.2) creating a multi­sided market, or a digital technology platform (3.3.1)

providing a means to create applications

Note 1 to entry: A digital platform enables and assists other participant digital services in conducting business

with their customers, either by creating and facilitating a multi-sided market for those services, or by enabling

the technological creation and operation of those services, or both.
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Note 2 to entry: “Distributed platform” is often used as a synonym to emphasise those elements of a digital

service, such as edge computing and mobile computing that go beyond classical datacentres of cloud computing.

3.2 Terms relating to platform participation
3.2.1
platform participant

party that makes use of or otherwise engages with a digital platform (3.1.2)

Note 1 to entry: A party can be an individual end user or organisation.

Note 2 to entry: A platform participant can be a member of one or more participant groups (3.2.2).

3.2.2
participant group

group of platform participants (3.2.1) that share a common set of business requirements that differ

significantly from the requirements of one or more other groups of platform participants (3.2.1)

Note 1 to entry: Participant groups are not specific to digital services.

Note 2 to entry: Examples of such participant groups include purchasers, vendors, and developers. Purchasers

are platform participants seeking to acquire something, vendors are platform participants seeking to offer

something, while developers are platform participants seeking to create and sell (or operate) software (or

services). Thus, the members of each group have a common objective which is not shared with members of the

other participant groups.
3.3 Terms related to digital technology platforms
3.3.1
digital technology platform

digital platform (3.1.2) that provides engineering components required to support

applications and services

Note 1 to entry: Elements provided can include cloud computing resources (see ISO/IEC 22123 and

ISO/IEC 17789), which can include execution environments, storage, networking, location and mapping services,

graphics rendering and specialist processing (such as machine learning or quantum computing).

Note 2 to entry: Popular examples of such digital technology platforms include varieties of the cloud service

categories “infrastructure capabilities type” and “platform capabilities type” (see ISO/IEC 22123-1).

Note 3 to entry: This definition is distinct from those in ISO/IEC TS 25025:2021 and ISO/IEC TS 25011:2017.

3.3.2
software development platform

digital technology platform (3.3.1) that enables or assists the development of software

code
3.4 Terms related to digital economic platforms
3.4.1
economic platform

set of services that provide market intermediation to reduce search and/or transactions

costs

Note 1 to entry: Platforms are environments, computing or otherwise, that connect different groups and derive

benefits from others participating in the platform (Azoulay & Tucker)

Note 2 to entry: A shopping mall provides a non-computing economic platform, connecting merchants (participant

group) with visiting customers (participant group) and providing distinct services to each participant group

such as a pleasant environment, electricity, storage, parking, network connectivity, and security.

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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
3.4.2
digital economic platform

one or more digital platforms (3.1.2) which provide goods, services or licensed rights to

two or more distinct participant groups (3.2.2) who need each other in some way

Note 1 to entry: Examples of licensed rights can include the right to view a movie, to use commercial business

data, or to use specific software, each delivered as a license.

Note 2 to entry: While a digital economic platform is constructed with digital technology, often on top of a

digital technology platform (3.3.1), this does not mean that the digital economic platform is a subtype of digital

technology platform (any more than a car is a subtype of a road); these two terms are orthogonal.

Note 3 to entry: A digital economic platform can optionally comprise more than one digital platform. For instance,

an exchange platform can be combined with a payment platform and appear to the end-user as a single digital

economic platform.
3.4.3
ad-funded platform

digital economic platform (3.4.2) where a platform generates revenue by charging

advertisers to show advertisements to customers of the service

Note 1 to entry: Advertisers are one participant group, those who view the advertisements are a second, and

those who display the advertisements alongside their own content are a third.
3.4.4
exchange platform

digital economic platform (3.4.2) which brings together vendors and potential purchasers

and enables them to sell and buy goods and services, potentially generating value for the platform

provider by intermediating the transaction
3.4.5
payment platform

digital economic platform (3.4.2) which facilitates the secure completion of payments

between platform participants (3.2.1)
3.4.6
application marketplace

digital economic platform (3.4.2) where the platform provides means for software

developers and publishers to provide applications to customers via the platform

Note 1 to entry: This document describes this concept in the economic platform domain. See also

ISO/IEC 19944-1:2020, 3.2.2 for the definition in the device platform domain.
4 Abbreviated terms
AIaaS artificial intelligence as a service
CaaS communications as a service
CaaS containers as a service
CSC cloud service customer
CSP cloud service provider
DSaaS data storage as a service
FaaS function as a service
GPU graphics processing unit
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ISO/IEC DTS 5928:2023(E)
IaaS infrastructure as a service
MLaaS machine learning as a service
PaaS platform as a service
QCaaS quantum computing as a service
SaaS software as a service
SME Small­ or medium­sized enterprise

The acronym CaaS is unfortunately used by industry for multiple purposes, two of which are listed here,

so it is best to use the expanded term to ensure the reader has the correct context.

5 Digital platform overview
5.1 General

The term “platform” is used in the English language with a very wide range of meanings, and some of

these uses are ambiguous in the context of online or digital services.

This document defines a taxonomy of terms for digital platforms of various kinds and shows how these

terms can be structured into a hierarchy (see Annex A).
5.1.1 Meanings of “platform”

These uses include but are not limited to the following. These groupings are potentially overlapping,

they are not mutually exclusive.

— The traditional non­ICT uses of the term, such as a wooden platform to stand on, a political platform

of policies, or a railway platform from which trains will depart, highlight the highly context-

dependent use of the word “platform”.

— There are online, broadcast and printed media and public discourse settings, that serve as platforms

for free expression, expression of political and social viewpoints, artistic and musical expression,

discussion and debate. This includes social media.

— There are what can be defined as “economic platforms”, which is a way to describe certain business

approaches that create multi­sided markets, where two or more distinct groups of participants

can do some kind of business together via an intermediary platform. This means that the platform

brings together two or more different participant groups and provides a meeting place to facilitate

interactions between the participant groups through the platform. Platforms serving two participant

groups are called two-sided platforms, and more generally platforms serving two or more such

groups are called multi­sided platforms.

— There are many examples of two-sided markets supported by intermediary platforms, including but

not limited to: publishers, academic journals and conferences; airports and ports; stock markets,

auction houses and real estate brokers; dating and employment agencies; and credit card payment

cloud computing systems. An economic platform does not need to involve any technology.

EXAMPLE A bricks­and­mortar department store or shopping mall creates a multi­sided market

between a group of merchants and a group of customers. This type of economic platform existed long before

modern digital technology.

— There have also been “technology platforms” for many years, long predating the arrival of online

services. Early computer operating systems such as on mainframes were often described as

providing a platform for customer programme development. Specialised systems such as telephone

networks provided platforms for the deployment of (then) advanced services such as free-phone

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and premium-rate telephone lines. PBX systems provided platforms for customer development of

early call-centre services. All of these existed long before the arrival of the World Wide Web.

— For these technology products and services, the term “platform” is widely used, both as a simple

indicator of layering – with many distinct products and services built on a single underlying base

– and to articulate a specific purpose for a product (e.g. providing a platform for self-expression or

social interaction).
5.1.2 Meanings of “digital platform”
With the arrival of th
...