Digital power can be divided into three spheres: economic power, technological power, and political power, although these overlap and interact. The very existence of digital power is not necessarily a cause for concern in itself: societies are ecosystems in which various forms of power coexist. Nor does it in itself mean that digital power is exercised to the detriment of society (although there are many indications that it is). But the first step to making sure Big Tech's power is kept in balance is to understand how it's created and used. The tech giants are all companies with commercial goals, and their most obvious form of power is the economic one. Five companies (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft) are expected to account for a fifth of all profits accrued by the S&P 500 by 2023, a sign of how much economic potential is concentrated in the tech giants. But how did it happen? The main mechanism, as I argue in this thesis, is the "platform power". All tech giants have, to a greater or lesser extent, a platform-based business model, which means that they connect suppliers to consumers, whether it is connecting advertisers to social networks or to search engine users. app developers to device owners or suppliers to online shoppers. By their very nature, platform activities benefit from network effects: the more consumers you acquire, the more attractive you are to suppliers, and thus lead to "winner takes all" results. This economic power is not limited only to the digital markets in which they originated, such as search engines or smartphone software. The logic of digital platforms is invading all other sectors, from finance to energy. There is hardly any industry in the world that can be seen regardless of what is happening in digital markets. They are defining how these other markets will develop in the future. The tech giants therefore have an additional source of economic power: the latent ability to use their infrastructure, reach and data resources to enter and disrupt new markets. A vivid example of this is Facebook's flirtations with digital currency. Its long-awaited Libra currency, which was scheduled to launch this year, is one of the reasons many central banks are considering their own digital currencies, which could have far-reaching consequences for the functioning of banking systems. Even if Libra was never launched, the very fact that Facebook announced its intention may have changed the nature of money forever. Furthermore, in the delicate moment of geopolitical transformation and the shift from the American imperial paradigm to the Chinese one, there are many actors and variables that come into play in defining the new equilibrium. All digital power comes from the use of technology, but some of its dimensions are best understood as intrinsic to the technological systems that the tech giants design, build and operate. As these systems become the infrastructure on which economic, social and political processes take place, the fact that the tech giants design and operate them gives them considerable power and influence. The various aspects of this power include what may be called the power of coding. All digital systems incorporate models of reality, such as how social interactions work or how buyers and sellers interact. As the masters of the dominant platforms, the tech giants design these models in their own interests and impose them on other actors. Likewise, by designing the interfaces between participants on their platforms, the tech giants shape possible actions. Currently, the form of technological power most examined by Big Tech is algorithmic power. The decisions that determine the results for digital platform participants are, by their nature, automated and therefore the algorithms that inform those decisions are the place of significant influence.
Il potere digitale può essere suddiviso in tre sfere: potere economico, potere tecnologico e potere politico, sebbene questi si sovrappongano e interagiscano. L'esistenza stessa del potere digitale non è necessariamente motivo di preoccupazione in sé: le società sono ecosistemi in cui coesistono varie forme di potere. Né di per sé significa che il potere digitale venga esercitato a scapito della società (sebbene ci siano molte indicazioni che lo sia). Ma il primo passo per assicurarsi che la potenza di Big Tech sia mantenuta in equilibrio è capire come viene creata e utilizzata. I giganti della tecnologia sono tutte aziende con obiettivi commerciali e la loro forma di potere più evidente è quella economica. Si prevede che cinque società (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook e Microsoft) rappresenteranno un quinto di tutti gli utili maturati dall'S&P 500 entro il 2023, un segno di quanto potenziale economico sia concentrato nei giganti della tecnologia. Ma come è successo? Il meccanismo principale, come sostengo in questa tesi, è il "potere della piattaforma". Tutti i giganti della tecnologia hanno, in misura maggiore o minore, un modello di business basato sulla piattaforma, il che significa che collegano i fornitori ai consumatori, sia che si tratti di collegare gli inserzionisti ai social network o agli utenti dei motori di ricerca, gli sviluppatori di app ai proprietari di dispositivi o i fornitori agli acquirenti online. Per loro natura, le attività di piattaforma beneficiano degli effetti di rete: più consumatori acquisisci, più sei attraente per i fornitori, e quindi portano a risultati "chi vince prende tutto". Questo potere economico non si limita solo ai mercati digitali in cui sono nati, come i motori di ricerca o i software per smartphone. La logica delle piattaforme digitali sta invadendo tutti gli altri settori, dalla finanza all'energia. Non c'è quasi nessun settore al mondo che possa essere visto indipendentemente da ciò che sta accadendo nei mercati digitali. Stanno definendo come questi altri mercati si svilupperanno in futuro. I giganti della tecnologia hanno quindi un'ulteriore fonte di potere economico: la capacità latente di utilizzare la propria infrastruttura, la portata e le risorse di dati per entrare e sconvolgere nuovi mercati. Un vivido esempio di ciò sono i flirt di Facebook con la valuta digitale. La sua tanto attesa valuta Libra, il cui lancio era previsto quest'anno, è uno dei motivi per cui molte banche centrali stanno prendendo in considerazione le proprie valute digitali, che potrebbero avere conseguenze di vasta portata sul funzionamento dei sistemi bancari. Anche se la Bilancia non venisse mai lanciata, il fatto stesso che Facebook abbia annunciato la sua intenzione potrebbe aver cambiato per sempre la natura del denaro. Inoltre, nel delicato momento di trasformazione geopolitica e lo spostamento dal paradigma imperiale americano a quello cinese molti sono gli attori e le variabili che entrano in gioco nella definizione del nuovo equilibrio. Tutta la potenza digitale deriva dall'uso della tecnologia, ma alcune delle sue dimensioni sono meglio comprese come intrinseche ai sistemi tecnologici che i giganti della tecnologia progettano, costruiscono e gestiscono. Poiché questi sistemi diventano l'infrastruttura su cui si svolgono i processi economici, sociali e politici, il fatto che i giganti della tecnologia li progettino e li gestiscano conferisce loro un potere e un'influenza considerevoli.
ANALISI DELL’ASCESA STORICA DELLE “BIG TECH” TRA IL 1971 ED IL 2021 ED IL LORO RUOLO NELLA RIDEFINIZIONE DEGLI EQUILIBRI ECONOMICI E GEOPOLITICI TRA WASHINGTON E PECHINO ATTRAVERSO L’ESERCIZIO DI UN POTERE DIGITALE
GHEZZI, MATTEO
2020/2021
Abstract
Digital power can be divided into three spheres: economic power, technological power, and political power, although these overlap and interact. The very existence of digital power is not necessarily a cause for concern in itself: societies are ecosystems in which various forms of power coexist. Nor does it in itself mean that digital power is exercised to the detriment of society (although there are many indications that it is). But the first step to making sure Big Tech's power is kept in balance is to understand how it's created and used. The tech giants are all companies with commercial goals, and their most obvious form of power is the economic one. Five companies (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft) are expected to account for a fifth of all profits accrued by the S&P 500 by 2023, a sign of how much economic potential is concentrated in the tech giants. But how did it happen? The main mechanism, as I argue in this thesis, is the "platform power". All tech giants have, to a greater or lesser extent, a platform-based business model, which means that they connect suppliers to consumers, whether it is connecting advertisers to social networks or to search engine users. app developers to device owners or suppliers to online shoppers. By their very nature, platform activities benefit from network effects: the more consumers you acquire, the more attractive you are to suppliers, and thus lead to "winner takes all" results. This economic power is not limited only to the digital markets in which they originated, such as search engines or smartphone software. The logic of digital platforms is invading all other sectors, from finance to energy. There is hardly any industry in the world that can be seen regardless of what is happening in digital markets. They are defining how these other markets will develop in the future. The tech giants therefore have an additional source of economic power: the latent ability to use their infrastructure, reach and data resources to enter and disrupt new markets. A vivid example of this is Facebook's flirtations with digital currency. Its long-awaited Libra currency, which was scheduled to launch this year, is one of the reasons many central banks are considering their own digital currencies, which could have far-reaching consequences for the functioning of banking systems. Even if Libra was never launched, the very fact that Facebook announced its intention may have changed the nature of money forever. Furthermore, in the delicate moment of geopolitical transformation and the shift from the American imperial paradigm to the Chinese one, there are many actors and variables that come into play in defining the new equilibrium. All digital power comes from the use of technology, but some of its dimensions are best understood as intrinsic to the technological systems that the tech giants design, build and operate. As these systems become the infrastructure on which economic, social and political processes take place, the fact that the tech giants design and operate them gives them considerable power and influence. The various aspects of this power include what may be called the power of coding. All digital systems incorporate models of reality, such as how social interactions work or how buyers and sellers interact. As the masters of the dominant platforms, the tech giants design these models in their own interests and impose them on other actors. Likewise, by designing the interfaces between participants on their platforms, the tech giants shape possible actions. Currently, the form of technological power most examined by Big Tech is algorithmic power. The decisions that determine the results for digital platform participants are, by their nature, automated and therefore the algorithms that inform those decisions are the place of significant influence.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1827