This book offers a comprehensive analysis of digital platforms as the driving force of the modern economy, exploring their evolution, governance, and integration across financial and supply chain ecosystems. It presents a synthesis of theories, strategic models, and empirical insights to address the complexities of platform economies, making it an essential resource for scholars, policymakers, and industry practitioners.The book is structured around core principles of digital platforms, including their definition, key features, and transformative impact on value creation. It delves into governance and ethical considerations, examining global regulatory frameworks and the emerging paradigms of Industry 5.0, where digital platforms intersect with economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The theoretical foundations are rooted in network effects, New Economic Geography, Platform Economics, Agency Theory, and Systems Theory, offering a robust analytical framework for understanding scalability, competition, and strategic decision- making in platform ecosystems.Two important areas — finance and supply chains— are explored in depth. The book investigates the digitalization of financial services, the risks and benefits of fintech innovations, and governance strategies within financial ecosystems. In parallel, it examines digital supply chain platforms, their integration challenges, and governance models that drive efficiency and value creation. The book culminates in a forward- looking synthesis, identifying synergies between financial and supply chain platforms while forecasting future trends in digital transformation.By integrating theoretical insights with practical case studies, this book provides a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to digital platforms, bridging gaps between economic theory, strategic management, and technological innovation.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 International license.
