Development of digital platforms as a competitiveness factor of modern economic systems

Digital platforms, as well as the platform ecosystems that they form, are currently able to upgrade entire industries and various types of socio-economic activity. These platforms drive of innovations, economic growth and competition in modern economy. Business structures that are using digital platform solutions are gaining significant competitive advantages in the global market, which is especially important in the context of globalization. The aim of the research is to investigate the essence, principles and conditions of the platform economy, which allows us to create open, digital ecosystems with many users. Theoretically and methodologically the research is based on the scientific works of Russian and foreign scientists, that concern the use of platform technologies in the management of economic systems. The scientific novelty of the research is to specify the concepts of digital platform functioning, its technological content in the transition to a knowledge-based economy, carried out as a continuous accumulation of innovations (digital technologies), leading to the formation of new competitive advantages and ensuring the implementation of selected strategies of behavior, taking into account the balance of interests of participants. The content of platform economy has been revealed in terms of the study. The article describes the problems that may be solved implementing digital platforms as integrated digital systems that provide multilateral user interaction to exchange information in order to optimize business processes, reduce transaction costs, to improve the efficiency of supply chains of goods and services. The main features, opportunities and threats associated with the activities of digital platforms and their use to improve the competitiveness of economic entities in the world markets have been considered. The digital economy has been characterized as a system that unites several digital platforms of different industries or market segments with common customers and provides conditions for innovative development and distribution of digital devices, digital products, digital services and applications. We have developed digital platform functioning models considering the platform key conceptual features and technological peculiarities of implementation of efficient business models of management in complicated economic systems. The practical significance of the results obtained is determined by the possibility of their application in the practice of management of economic entities in the conditions of digital transformation, scientific and analytical studies of the development of digital platforms in Russia. Further studies in the field will be devoted to the development of the ways that will improve the efficiency of economic systems by identifying mechanisms and the ways that will reduce transaction costs of digital platforms.