Publication: The Relevance of Digital Sharing Business Models for Sustainability

In their recently published paper, DSI Mobility members Maria Pouri and Lorenz Hilty (2020) investigate how the “Digital Sharing Economy” (DSE) influences resource consumption and analyze the potential impacts on social practices and structures. The aim of their research is to develop a guideline for assessing the sustainability impacts of sharing platforms. In their analysis, the authors focus on resource and socio-economic perspectives, i.e., they demonstrate how the use of resources matters and question the potential impacts of social and economic practices, which are promoted by sharing platforms. Specifically, the authors explore the implications of business models in the Digital Sharing Economy, with a focus on C2C and B2C sharing business models.

For interested readers, there is a summary in Table 1 of the opportunities and risks of C2C and B2C sharing models for sustainability, which Maria Pouri and Lorenz Hilty.

Pouri and Hilty note that due to the rising popularity of such sharing platforms, consumption patterns have changed remarkably. As a result, it is vital to develop a profound understanding of how such sharing platforms can promote or hinder sustainability. For instance, one has to consider how resources can be more efficiently utilized in a sharing system. In addition, it is important to keep in mind that various sharing systems have different socio-economic implications for participants’ social life and economic standing.

For more information and further details, please use the link, which will direct you to the publication.