Synopsis
There has been a sharp contest to dominate the world’s digital infrastructure. Several internet- based firms have reached a scale that gives each a chance, if they want to pursue it, to become the dominant platform that businesses rely on to reach online customers. Will a balance of power among the top internet-based firms (i.e., Google, Facebook, Amazon and others) prevail? will a couple of them take command at the expense of others? Or are all of them more vulnerable than they appear to outside forces, government regulations, public opinion etc.?
Objectives
The report shall examine the contest among at least top 6 internet based firms in the industry, for platform dominance in online commerce, advertising and other business domains. Though today, each firm has different set of core competencies and products, their domains have overlapped and are likely to overlap even more. Direct competition among these firms has reached unprecedented levels of severity. These firms are competing by investing heavily in technology and marshaling big data insights from the user data of their customers.
The report shall describe the respective strengths and vulnerabilities of each of the selected firms, and attempt to analyze the digital economy looking five years down the road.
Questions
1.What essential skills, technology, government regulations and other ingredients are necessary to developing the future digital economy that you envisage?
Identify an enterprise that you know something about, for example a media company, a retailer, or a manufacturing firm, with some involvement in the online economy. Which, if any of the top 6 firms does it currently rely on? Might that reliance change? How might that firm hedge the risks it will face if there is a transition to a competitor?
