Abstract

This paper advances a triadic socio-technical ontology for the design and governance of digital platforms operating in federated, multi-party environments. We argue that the long-dominant Data Processing and Distribution (DPD) paradigm, grounded in dyadic, entity–relation modelling, remains effective for transactional integration within unified enterprises but is structurally inadequate for representing meaning, responsibility, and accountability between autonomous, peer actors.Building on Peircean semiotics and socio-technical systems (STS) theory, we reconceptualise information systems as infrastructures for structured conversations among role holders. Central to this reframing is the concept of the conversational instrument: a session-bound artefact that carries explicit provenance, mandate, audience, and purpose. By embedding these dimensions directly into platform grammar, conversational architecture renders interpretation and governance computationally explicit rather than organisationally implicit. We demonstrate how a triadic modelling framework links roles, activities, and resources across agent-, institution- and object-oriented projections, and how the ICT–DPD stack can be augmented through a Trustworthy, Governable Platform (TGP) layer that supports governance-in-use. The resulting architecture replaces integrationist assumptions of a “single point of truth” with structured coordination grounded in accountable communicative action.

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