Abstract
As platforms proliferate across industries, there is growing recognition that they have the potential to impact societal goals, not just economic ones. Using the concepts of matters of concern, perceived affordances and perceived worth, this study focuses on how platform owners construct the value of a digital platform by considering both economic and non-economic values during the initial phases of its conceptualization and development. The paper presents and discusses the findings from a qualitative study of an emerging agricultural data-sharing platform under development through a multi-actor collaboration in Sweden. It shows that by starting with matters of concern and matching those with potential data-based solutions, a number of perceived affordances could be articulated and transformed into potential worth of the platform from economic, environmental and social perspectives. The research proposes that viewing digital platforms beyond their economic potential during platform emergence is important for constructing platforms that go beyond single firm interests and include industrial and societal worth.