Overview - ISO/IEC TS 5928:2023 (Taxonomy for digital platforms)
ISO/IEC TS 5928:2023 provides a standardized taxonomy for digital platforms used in cloud computing and other distributed platforms. The document clarifies the many meanings of “platform” by supplying consistent definitions, structured taxonomies and supporting information that disambiguate technical, economic and general uses of the term. Its goal is to help multidisciplinary stakeholders (technologists, economists, policy makers, researchers) use platform-related terms unambiguously when discussing cloud services, edge computing and distributed systems.
Key Topics and scope
This technical specification focuses on terminology and classification rather than prescriptive technical requirements. Major topics covered include:
- Terms and definitions for digital service, digital platform, platform participant and participant groups.
- Digital platform overview: meanings of “platform” and “digital platform”, ambiguity issues, and cross-cutting considerations.
- Platform characteristics such as network effects, “private” vs “open” platforms, stickiness and customer inertia.
- Digital technology platforms: taxonomy of cloud service capability types and examples (including Platform as a Service (PaaS), Data Storage as a Service (DSaaS), Communications as a Service (CaaS), software development platforms).
- Platform market models: one-sided and multi‑sided technology platforms and digital economic platforms (marketplaces, exchange platforms, payment and ad-funded models).
- Impact on participant behaviour: network effects (positive/negative), monetisation considerations, and platform governance implications.
- Informative annexes with illustrative taxonomic hierarchies and comparisons of monetisation and network effects.
Practical applications - who uses this standard
- Cloud architects and platform engineers - to align terminology when designing and documenting cloud and distributed platform offerings.
- Platform operators and product managers - to classify platform capabilities (PaaS, DSaaS, CaaS) and participant groups for marketplace design and monetisation strategies.
- Policy makers and regulators - to ground policy debates about platform governance, competition and privacy on a clear taxonomy.
- Researchers and social scientists - to ensure consistent use of platform concepts in cross-disciplinary studies.
- Procurement and legal teams - to reduce ambiguity in contracts and service descriptions by using standardized definitions.
Related standards
- Normative references in the specification include ISO/IEC 22123-1 (Cloud computing - Vocabulary) and ISO/IEC TS 23167 (Cloud computing - Common technologies and techniques).
- Prepared by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38 (Cloud computing and distributed platforms).
Using ISO/IEC TS 5928:2023 helps organizations and stakeholders improve clarity in documentation, governance, and decision-making around cloud computing, distributed systems and digital platform business models. Keywords: digital platform taxonomy, platform characteristics, ISO/IEC TS 5928:2023, cloud computing, multi-sided platform, PaaS, DSaaS, CaaS, network effects.