Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 12, 2021

Platform Technology Enabling, Public Gaming and Complex Adaptive Governance

(Abstract)

Fan Ruguo

A platform is a complex adaptive network ecosystem driven by multi-agent interaction and by data and technology. It is characterized by the complexity of its structure, its behavior, its function and its governance and by the existence of a closed-loop paradox between the openness of its borders and its value distribution. As a new type of social capital, platforms have three forms of capacity: enabling, empowering and controlling. There is a “power laws rule” between platform enabling and platform scale. Enabling is realized through incremental enabling and external integration and reconstruction. Platform development has brought many challenges, including “creative destruction,” alienation of existential responsibility, abuse of technology, algorithm control, public gaming, data security, etc. Platform governance needs to start out from complexity theory and move on to the complex adaptive governance of platform structures, channels, algorithms, rules, rights and responsibilities. It must set up a dynamic equilibrium between profitability and social responsibility, the exclusive and the public, and innovation and security, in order to enhance the technology enabling and public service capacity of the platform and prevent platform alienation. This paper provides systemic thinking on the logic of platform governance in terms of technology enabling, public gaming and complex adaptive governance, positing a scientific model and effective mechanism for platform governance.