Towards a Unified Digital Ecosystem: The Role of Platform Technology Convergence

The rapid evolution of platform technologies is transforming industries, interoperability, and innovation. Despite numerous studies on individual technologies, no prior review unifies AI, IoT, blockchain, and 5G with cross-sector standards, governance, and technical enablers to provide a comprehensive view of platform convergence. This narrative review synthesizes conceptual and technical literature from 2015–2025, focusing on how converging platform technologies interact across sectors. The review organizes findings by technological enablers, cross-domain integration mechanisms, sector-specific applications, and emergent trends, highlighting systemic synergies and challenges. The study demonstrates that AI, IoT, blockchain, cloud-edge architectures, and advanced communication networks collectively enable interoperable, secure, and adaptive ecosystems. Key enablers include standardized protocols, edge–cloud orchestration, and cross-platform data sharing, while challenges involve cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and scalability. Sectoral examples span healthcare, finance, manufacturing, smart cities, and autonomous systems. Platform convergence offers transformative potential for sustainable and intelligent systems. Critical research gaps remain in unified architectures, privacy-preserving AI and blockchain mechanisms, and dynamic orchestration of heterogeneous systems. Emerging technologies such as quantum computing and federated learning are poised to further strengthen collaborative ecosystems. This review provides actionable insights for researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders aiming to harness platform convergence for innovation and sustainable development.