Transformação digital e modelos de negócio do tipo plataforma: proposição de um modelo teórico de organização do conhecimento baseado em ontologia

Abstract

Digital platform business models operate in Big Data environments, where information is generated in large volume, velocity, and variety of formats. This research starts from the assumption that there is a need to understand organizations, their information management, and specific analysis of information usage, acquisition, organization, and sharing in their operational context. The main research question posed was: How can an ontological model be employed to obtain, organize, and share information in a digital platform business model? Therefore, the overall objective was to develop a proposal for constructing a conceptual framework, supported by semantic technologies, that establishes the relationship between different data in digital platform business models. The specific objectives sought to: (i) determine existing research initiatives for digital platform business models; (ii) evaluate the approaches, models, and concerns in existing initiatives; (iii) propose a preliminary ontological application model for semantic integration and generation of new knowledge for digital platform business models; (iv) validate and improve the developed model through practical application in use cases and interviews with experts; (v) evaluate the possibility of generalizing the solution to the problem. This thesis is justified by its analysis of the determinants of the relative advantage of human vision in understanding information, proposing an intervention to the problem, enabling the emergence of a more accessible visual interface for decision-making and performance in digital platform business models. This research can be classified as: (i) applied, as it investigates the process of creating an ontology that can generate practical results applicable to the possibility of creating methodologies for domain modeling in Knowledge Organization Systems; (ii) qualitative, as it adopts hermeneutic and dialectical postures for the construction of a real model, with the purpose of retrieving, organizing, and sharing information; (iii) explanatory, as it seeks a dialogue between the theoretical aspects of Information Science, Management, and Computer Science, based on practical application; and (iv) a case study, as it presents an investigation of the ontology construction process. The exploratory phase included a literature review to structure a theoretical framework, and the fieldwork was outlined by constructing a theoretical model and a prototype for a digital platform business model with application in use cases. The practical phase was completed with interviews with ontology experts to validate the ontological proposition. The obtained results include the identification of the main domains of Digital Transformation (DT) and their characteristics, as well as the main domains of digital platform business models and their characteristics, which can serve as a roadmap for managers, both for digital transformation and for maintaining their current digital platform business models. Additionally, a preliminary ontology model was obtained, which can be used as a foundation for appropriate top-level and task-specific ontologies, for specific use by ontology experts in the application to digital platform business models.