The evolution of non-digital platforms: The role of knowledge as an idle asset

Abstract

Platforms are typically associated with digital infrastructures, algorithmic mediation, and large-scale network effects. Yet many organizations create platform value without relying on digital intermediation, raising the question of how non-digital platforms evolve over time. This study examines the 25-year evolution of the Digital Innovation Observatories, 1 an Italian applied research center that orchestrates in-person interactions between technology providers and adopters across multiple thematic communities. Drawing on a longitudinal single-case study, we identify three evolutionary phases (launch, consolidation, and maturity) and analyze evolution at two levels (the single platform initiative and the organizational portfolio). Findings show that the evolution of non-digital platforms does not primarily depend on digital generativity or on scaling through existing user bases. Instead, it relies on the identification of a repeatable format, defined as a codified set of rules governing interactions, platform structure, and life cycle, which enables horizontal replication across adjacent fields. This process is sustained by two forms of knowledge as idle assets: activity-based knowledge, which supports format codification and internal efficiency, and content-based knowledge, which fuels customer value creation and vertical digital expansion. A matrix organizational structure and individual entrepreneurial agency jointly leverage this knowledge over time. The study contributes to platform research by explaining how non-digital platforms evolve horizontally and vertically through compound networks, format-based replication, and knowledge mobilization rather than through purely digital mechanisms.