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Most of us have been using and engaging with these companies like Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Tencent, and Ctrip. What do they have in common? They are not only the world’s highest valuated businesses but also the world’s most influential platforms. The next generation of Fortune500 companies in the decade of 2020 will be mostly platform-based businesses such as Airbnb, Grab, Robinhood, Spotify, and more.

What is platform? More importantly, what kind of magic do they have to make them so powerful? Platforms, a near-monopolistic business model, are quietly taking over the global economy. These platforms make much of their money not by what they sell but by facilitating the interactions or transactions of others. Traditional product, manufacturers,  brands, and intermediaries (or “the middleman”) incumbents in all major industries are being seriously disrupted by these platforms.

I am going to explore why every one of the businesses has to have the right platform strategy in order to able to compete and even survive in the DigitalEconomy, and how we can formulate a suitable and feasible platform strategy for our businesses even we are a product company now. Stay tuned on April 29.

I would like to share what I learned from my recent visits to 3 leading innovation labs with AI focus in HKSTP. It is all about co-creation. Love it.   IBM Innovation Lab brings their world’s innovation to HK & co-creates solutions using Design Thinking with client & startup to solve their pain points. IBM’s 19 world-class research facilities spread across 12 laboratories on 6 continents with 3,000+ researchers. Thanks for IBM GM of HK Francis Ngai to make this happen. Siemens Innovation Lab focuses on Mobility & SmartCity. Their MindSphere is the cloud-based, open IoT operating system from Siemens that connects our products, plants, systems, & machines, enabling us to harness the wealth of data generated by IoT with advanced analytics. The lab facilities clients and startups to co-create IoT & Big Data innovations. Thanks  to Siemens CEO of Mobility Jens-Peter Brauner to make it happen. Last but not the least, HKAI Lab is a non-profit organization which aims to empower AI startups on technology side & nurture a healthy AI community for HK. The lab is backed by Alibaba AEF Sensetime & STP. They run 2 cohorts per year to select AI startups with cutting edge technology to join them. Thanks for Executive Director of the HKAI Lab Timothy Leung to make this happen.