How digital platforms generate economic development and change business models and forms of consumption

* By Jamile Sabatini Marques

The internet and new technologies have impacted society in different areas and everyday situations. Because of them, our habits have undergone great changes and today we can't imagine ourselves without these facilities. More recently, they have been impacting society through digital platforms, tools that are here to stay and are increasingly changing not only the forms of consumption, but also the very relationship with technology, through the use of data.

For the Austrian economist and political scientist Joseph Schumpeter, the economy is a dynamic process that is always undergoing changes due to new innovations capable of altering the equilibrium conditions existing until then - the economist points out as an example of this the introduction of a new good in the market. , as a new method of producing or marketing products. And that's exactly what digital platforms bring – a new way of marketing a product or service through a screen (it can be a cell phone, computer, television, among others), with little or no human interaction and that unbalances the model of existing business.

Thinking about business models, all Brazilian unicorn companies (those that are nascent and reach 1 billion dollars in a few years of life) are based on digital platforms, breaking old forms of consumption, bringing new ways of interacting with the consumer and also new legislation.

This innovation brought disruptions in completely traditional markets, in which no one expected changes. In the case of driver platforms, the traditional model of taxi drivers was broken and regulation came right after innovation. An example is Uber – after introducing its digital platform to the market, the now unicorn generated a wave of protests demanding regulatory adjustments in several cities around the world.

First, there was a whole process of changing the traditional form of consumption for the services provided, so that adjustments to the regulations came later. The same is happening with scooter platforms and shared bikes.

If we think about real estate, the Quinto Andar platform also came to change a business model that was already solid, facilitating the process of buying and renting properties. Thinking about financial services, banks are increasingly becoming or being born digital, like fintechs, allowing their customers to make all the necessary operations through their platforms. A final example is Rappi, which took advantage of the proposal of food platforms (such as iFood and Uber Eats) and applied it to other types of establishments, allowing consumers to shop at the market without leaving home.

The facilities that the platforms are creating for society as a whole and the jobs they are generating, both in their companies and for those who are at their service, generate economic development and change the way of life in cities.

Today, traditional companies and references in their markets are looking for innovation to rethink their business models. We have countless examples of how the market is behaving in order to reinvent itself and remain competitive. One of them is BNDES, a traditional economic development bank that created the BNDES Garagem, an initiative to support Brazilian startups in the acceleration phase, and BNDES Direct 10, offering financing between RS 1 and 10 million for micro and small investments. , small and medium-sized innovative companies. Also in the financial sector, Itaú and Bradesco created spaces for innovation in order to approach this new scenario. In the hospital area, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein has several programs to attract startups and new business models.

Nowadays, companies need to adapt to the pace of constant changes in the ways of doing business and engaging in the market. However, in addition to simply adapting to the news so they don't lose relevance, they need to find innovative ways to improve the consumer's experience in relation to their product or service. Those who innovate create a new market and become more competitive – and for the innovative entrepreneur, there are sources of support (the Guide to Support Innovation, produced by ABES in partnership with ABGI, lists several of them) regardless of the area of activity.

*Jamile Sabatini Marques is Director of Innovation and Development at ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies) and postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at USP (University of São Paulo) in the Global Cities program