Construction workers build platforms. Those platforms can serve bricklayers, carpenters, painters and anyone working in the project. In internet business, great companies engineer products with duality: products which are also platforms. Facebook is a product and also a platform. The most valued top 10 tech companies in the world have products with platform duality. With platforms, you have CUSTOMERS; products deliver consumers.
Interestingly, we can use the same construct we use in building companies to build and rebuild a nation. Platforms for economic growth include constant electricity, security, decent road networks, supply chain systems and those basic amenities you expect from governments. When you build them, you turn your citizens from Consumers to Producers because they will have platforms to operate on. If you do not, they remain mere consumers, feeding on imports because they have zero platform to tinker or do things.
The greatness of America comes from its platforms which include interstate roads, airports, good universities, etc. Upon those platforms, great companies are then built. Remove those platforms, everything fades.
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Nigeria needs to build economic platforms to bring shared prosperity to its citizens. Nigeria does not need to build companies and join in free enterprises; it simply needs to provide platforms and We The People will then build and unlock opportunities on top of those platforms.
Because of Facebook platform, we see Like buttons and Comment sections to like, share and comment using Facebook on this blog. Just like we use construction platforms when building houses, when you mount them, you never know everyone who will use them. But you know that no matter who, the platform will help in the house construction. The platform supports the bricklayers, carpenters, painters and plumbers. Simply, it makes it possible for you to build on top of one project phase to another; from bricklaying to plastering to painting. Digital platforms do similar works: you begin with texts but over time, you have messaging, video, etc as products all integrated as one.
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But you left out the Soul of every successful and enduring platform: Governance.
Governance in platform architecture is what determines rules of engagement and how they are applied and must be adhered to, once it becomes arbitrary or no longer enforced wholly, the platform fades.
If you are a paying subscriber on Netflix and you are told by other users of Netflix that you can actually enjoy everything on Netflix without paying, and Netflix is aware of this loophole and does nothing, what do you think will happen to Netflix’s growth and revenue?
And if you are a developer on Apple’s platform where Apple charges $100 for you to publish your new app, and then you learn that Apple does not charge all developers, rather it looks at your face or name before deciding to charge you or not, what do you think will happen to Apple platform?
In setting up societal or nation’s platform, the Rule of Law is the soul and the supplier of oxygen. It is not abundance of electricity, good roads or security that guarantees a thriving economy, rather the believe in equal treatment and fair competition, once they are lacking, the platform will fade, irrespective of grandest physical infrastructures in place.
Laws matter, before any prosperity song.