Characterising Global Platforms: Centralised, Decentralised, Federated, and Grassroots

2025-11-05

AI Summary

Global digital platforms lack a unified, mathematically grounded classification framework. Method: We propose a four-way taxonomy—centralized, decentralized, federated, and grassroots—based on the minimal cardinality of *essential agents*. We formalize essential agents via a multi-agent atomic transaction model, prove the mutual exclusivity and completeness of the four classes, and characterize grassroots platforms as those in which *all* agents are essential. Leveraging transition system theory and protocol modeling, we verify the correctness of the taxonomy and provide decidable formal specifications for canonical platforms (e.g., social networks). Contribution/Results: This work establishes the first mathematically rigorous, verifiable classification framework for both existing and hypothetical global digital platforms—enabling precise structural analysis, compositional reasoning, and protocol-level validation across diverse platform architectures.

Technology Category

• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design
• Application Domains: Social Networks
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Agent Architectures

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Decentralized Web and Fediverse systems
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Models for Web evolution

Abstract

Global digital platforms are software systems designed to serve entire populations, with some already serving billions of people. We propose atomic transactions-based multiagent transition systems and protocols as a formal framework to study them; introduce essential agents -- minimal sets of agents the removal of which makes communication impossible; and show that the cardinality of essential agents partitions all global platforms into four classes: 1. Centralised -- one (the server) 2. Decentralised -- finite $>1$ (bootstrap nodes) 3. Federated -- infinite but not universal (all servers) 4. Grassroots -- universal (all agents) Our illustrative formal example is a global social network, for which we provide centralised, decentralised, federated, and grassroots specifications via multiagent atomic transactions, and prove they all satisfy the same basic correctness properties. We discuss informally additional global platforms -- currencies, ``sharing economy''apps, AI, and more. While this may be the first characterisation of centralised, decentralised, and federated global platforms, grassroots platforms have been formally defined previously, but using different notions. Here, we prove that their original definition implies that all agents are essential, placing grassroots platforms in a distinct class within the broader formal context that includes all global platforms. This work provides the first mathematical framework for classifying any global platform -- existing or imagined -- by providing a multiagent atomic-transactions specification of it and determining the cardinality of the minimal set of essential agents in the ensuing multiagent protocol. It thus provides a unifying mathematical approach for the study of global digital platforms, perhaps the most important class of computer systems today.

Problem

• Classifying global digital platforms into four architectural categories
• Developing formal framework using multiagent atomic transaction systems
• Characterizing platforms by essential agents enabling communication

Innovation

• Atomic transactions-based multiagent transition systems
• Essential agents concept for platform classification
• Unifying mathematical framework for global platforms