The People’s Disruption: Platform Co-ops for Global Challenges

“An Uber owned by its drivers?”

The seeds are being planted for a new kind of online economy. For all the wonders the Internet brings us, it is dominated by an economics of monopoly, extraction, and surveillance. Ordinary users retain little control over their personal data, and the digital workplace is creeping into every corner of workers’ lives. Online platforms often exploit and exacerbate existing inequalities in society, even while promising to be the great equalizers. Could the Internet be owned and governed differently? What if Uber drivers could set up their own platform, or if cities could control their own version of Airbnb? Can Silicon Alley do things more democratically than Silicon Valley? What are the prospects for platform cooperativism? 

The first #platformcoop event in 2015 popularized the concept of platform cooperativism, and the conference a year later brought together co-op and union leaders to push the model forward. This third event will zero in on ways that platform cooperatives can help to address some of the future’s most urgent challenges. The fairer digital economy we need is already emerging, but it won’t happen on its own. That’s where you come in.

–Learn about new platform co-op projects that are shaping this emerging ecosystem, from blockchain-based financing to user-owned clouds.
–Reflect on research about platform co-op experiments in recent years.
–Confront growing challenges from artificial intelligence to global governance.
–Join leaders from co-ops, industry, labor, and social movements—from Associated Press to Black Lives Matter—to raise the scale of our ambition.

Platform cooperatives are poised to be a dynamic, transformative force in building a more equitable economy for people across various income, race and class strata, starting with the most vulnerable populations. This is a political and economic movement that can disrupt Silicon Valley’s disruptors by shifting the focus toward fundamentally fairer forms of ownership and governance. Over the past few years, the burgeoning of platform co-ops, community currencies, worker’s tech, the solidarity economy, and B Corps have shown us that alternative economies are not only necessary but possible. Come help us make platform cooperativism part of the new normal.

Convened by Trebor Scholz, Camille Kerr, Nathan Schneider, Palak Shah

Featuring: Alicia Garza / Felicia Wong / danah boyd / Joseph Blasi / Pia Mancini / Yochai Benkler / Juliet Schor / and many more

Contact: info [​at​] platform.coop

Sponsors: CCA Global Partners, Cooperatives for a Better World,  Eugene Lang The New School for Liberal Arts,
Robert L. Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies at The New School; Febecoop, Unionen, Vancity, SMart, Stocksy United; Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, National Cooperative Bank, Sharetribe, Hexalina, Freelancers Union, Institute for the Future, Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, Shareable.

Presented by The Platform Cooperativism Consortium

Register today

Upcoming events
Platform Co-op 2017: Technology Afterparty (November 12, New York, NY): an after-party for #platformcoop-obsessed tech developers and platform designers to come together and learn from one another, connect, and co-create. Register here—it’s free.

DazzleCon ‘17 (November 15–17, Portland, OR) is still accepting applications! If you’re a post-revenue founder interested in learning more about creating a more inclusive and ethical type of funding, be sure to visit www.zebrasunite.com for more information and to apply!

Tenerife Colaborativa 2017 (November 23–27, Tenerife, Spain): an opportunity to discover the keys that encourage economic paradigm shift and to explore initiatives that lead to practice. More information and registration on the website.