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# The City as a Platform
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/the-city-as-a-platform/
- Published: 2012-09-05T14:55:01.000Z
- Updated: 2025-05-11T20:30:49.000Z
- Description: The "everything as a platform" mind-set continues.
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: Big Data, Platforms, Strategy, Open Data, The Age of the Platform

[![platform](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8f/b5/8fb5e321-49a6-4cf5-8a28-c6f6d5417e54/content/images/2025/05/platform-62.jpg)](https://tinyurl.com/7philmnr?ref=philsimon.com)

The "everything as a platform" mind-set continues. Most recently, there's been talk of [the city as a platform](https://www.shareable.net/blog/rebuilding-cities-as-platforms?ref=philsimon.com). [Open Data](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open%5Fdata?ref=philsimon.com) will allow for greater connectivity, information sharing, innovation, and the like.

I like to think that I know a few things about platforms. To me, they have to be broader than just cities. Think bigger. Much bigger. The "city as a platform" mind-set might be a nice start, but I'd argue that we have to be more aggressive in defining our platforms—not to mention building them.

## Simon Says 

Government is the platform. Cities, libraries, post offices, etc. need to be planks. Only then can we truly harness the power of emerging tech, open data, ecosystems, and, yes, platforms.