Just 5% of managers in German companies consider themselves platform experts – and one in four has never even heard of digital platforms. These are the most striking findings of a representative survey conducted by Bitkom Research in 502 companies with 20+ employees. According to the findings, very few managers and board members are familiar with digital platforms. While 15% can at least explain the term ‘platform economy’, 49% know only roughly what it means; a total of 27% have never even heard of digital platforms. At the same time, however, in 87% of the companies surveyed, the management or executive board is chiefly responsible for digital platforms. Responsibility for digital platforms has been assigned to a middle management level or employee level in, in each case, just 5% of companies.

At operational level, one person is exclusively responsible for platform issues in 20% of the companies surveyed, while in 37%, one person is responsible for platform issues as part of their job. Digital platforms are a team task in just 16% of the companies surveyed (along with other tasks in 12%). In 24% of the companies surveyed, no one is responsible for digital platforms at operational level.