2021/04/01〜2024/03/31

Tatsuhiko Yamamoto

The role and influence of platforms are growing in various aspects, including economic transactions, media, social interactions, public health. With COVID-19, this trend will become even stronger. Platforms can solve many issues in modern society, such as the problem of aging populations, increasing demand for remote work, and the emerging of sharing economy, by using their data and algorithms. While expectations for these capabilities are growing day by day, there are also rising concerns about the spread of fake news, widespread slander via platforms, privacy violation through profiling, and dominance in economic markets.

This project will examine the potentials, possibilities, functions, and social responsibilities of platforms, incorporating technological and social, and humanistic perspectives. We invited members from diverse expertise and knowledge in Sciences, Economics, Business Management, History, Politics, Law (Criminology, Insurance Law, Financial Law, Competition Law, Information Law, Consumer Law, Constitution Law) to form this cross-disciplinary research and education platform.

An endowed course will be conducted in Spring and Autumn 2021, together with discussions on the linkage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Also, by grasping the current status of voluntary norm formation by platformers, we will link this project to the core project “Platforms and the ‘2040 Problem’: New Order Formation in Network Space” to deepen the discussion on platforms.In this third year, several new themes will be developed based on the discussions of the previous year.