This study involved the execution of a comprehensive, two-year foresight exercise on next-generation online platforms. Using participatory foresight techniques, the study team analysed the potential impacts of the rapidly evolving platform ecosystem on the European Union's society and economy. The study aimed to enhance the Commission's understanding of the potential challenges and opportunities associated with the ongoing platformisation trends in various policy areas. In addition, the study contributed to strengthening the European Commission's capabilities in using participatory foresight techniques to inform policymaking in the future. As part of the study, the study team delivered 10 policy papers in three sets. The topics covered by the papers included: future of the internet, virtual worlds, digital health platforms, B2B industrial platforms, government as a platform, intellectual property, digital citizen participation platforms, strategic autonomy, digital identity.
The study used a participatory foresight methodology to achieve its objectives. Participatory foresight is a technique focused on exploring different future scenarios and their impacts while actively engaging stakeholders in co-creation and co-assessment exercises. For each set of policy papers, the foresight process included analysis and synthesis of pertinent technological and societal trends, assessment of various wildcards and the definition of futures and their impacts. Some of the methods used in the study included visioning, personas and case studies, roadmapping, backcasting and scenario analysis. For each set of policy papers, the study team organised two participatory foresight meetings with a wide variety of stakeholders. In total, workshops and interviews in this study involved over 350 stakeholders, including experts from various EU institutions, representatives of large companies and start-ups, academia, research institutions, online platforms and others, including Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Qualcomm, Siemens, Airbus, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Open Source Initiative and many others.