The varying effects of standardisation on digital platform innovation: evidence from OpenStreetmap

Abstract

We investigate the effects of standardisation as a means of direct control on digital platform innovation. Specifically, we study the standardisation of parameters and procedures implemented in the web editing API on the popular geodata platform, OpenStreetMap. Using a regression-based approach to interrupted time series analysis, we assess the quantity and quality of new content generated on the platform before and after the standardisation. We find that the intervention had positive and negative effects on the generation of platform content on OpenStreetMap, which we summarise in three different effects (control, simplification, spill-over). Through the control effect, standardisation decreases the generation of content in quantity by enforcing conformity and reducing complementor’s freedom in producing certain outcomes. Through the simplification effect, standardisation increases the generation of new content in quantity by simplifying and streamlining the production of certain outcomes. Lastly, through the spill-over effect, standardisation increases the generation of content in quality and new areas of the platform by improving the compatibility and interoperability of content. Framing these findings through the rich body of work on standardisation and innovation in the technology management literature, we engage a long-standing tension in research on digital platforms – the balance between control and innovation. We discuss the prospect of standardisation as one way to directly control the balance between desirable and undesirable variation necessary for platforms to innovate, as it restricts some activities while enabling others.