Abstract

Growth of digital platforms in developing countries has yet to see equivalent growth in research. This paper presents one of the first conceptualised analyses of platform implementation and impact. Using the “multi-level perspective”, it analyses a successful ride-hailing platform: EasyTaxi in Bogota, Colombia. This was originally a niche innovation but has effected a socio-technical transition to a dominant position within Bogota’s taxi regime. Speed of transition is explained in terms of tensions within that regime and from wider demographic change, combined with specific utility of the platform to drivers and passengers who faced a prior context of exploitation, mistrust and insecurity. Though the new regime is a hybrid of platform and non-platform features, its impacts can already be seen: datafication, formalisation, and shift in power away from old taxi operating companies and towards passengers and, in particular, towards the platform itself. Alongside case-specific insights, the paper demonstrates the utility of the multi-level perspective as a means to analyse the enactment of digital platforms.

Highlights

  • Digital platforms – “a set of digital resources—including services and content—that enable value-creating interactions between external producers and consumers” [5:p381] – play a rapidly-growing role in the socio-economic life of developing countries [18]

  • This paper contributes with one of the first case studies of a developing country digital platform analysing implementation and impact; selecting EasyTaxi – a ridehailing platform first developed in Brazil, though the focus here is its role in the capital, Bogotá, of neighbouring Colombia

  • Interview schedules were designed around the multi-level perspective framework, and 24 interviews were conducted in total: 14 with taxi drivers, 4 with EasyTaxi managers, 3 with central and city government officials, and 3 with other stakeholders

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Digital platforms – “a set of digital resources—including services and content—that enable value-creating interactions between external producers and consumers” [5:p381] – play a rapidly-growing role in the socio-economic life of developing countries [18]. The research literature is dominated by studies focused on the global North, leaving knowledge gaps along the entire lifecycle of platforms in the South: design–implementation–adoption–impact [ibid.]. This paper contributes with one of the first case studies of a developing country digital platform analysing implementation and impact; selecting EasyTaxi – a ridehailing platform first developed in Brazil, though the focus here is its role in the capital, Bogotá, of neighbouring Colombia. First introduced in Colombia in late 2012, within less than three years EasyTaxi dominated the taxi bookings market, prompting

Methods
Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.