{"id":1423,"date":"2017-01-31T22:09:10","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T21:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aiccon.it\/?p=1423\/"},"modified":"2017-01-31T22:09:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T21:09:10","slug":"open-2017-conference-platform-cooperatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aiccon.it\/en\/open-2017-conference-platform-cooperatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Open 2017: a conference on Platform Cooperatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 16-17 February, Open 2017: Platform Cooperatives<\/a> will bring the discussion about platform co-ops to the UK, in an event that will gather\u00a0thinkers, practitioners and new ideas around the digital economy.<\/p>\n

Organised by the Open Co-op LLP, a partnership between\u00a0United Diversity<\/a>,\u00a0Focal Point Marketing and Events<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Defacto Design<\/a>, Open 2017 includes speakers Brianna Wettlaufer (co-founder and CEO of Stocksy United) and Emer Coleman (founder of disruption Ltd, and technical engagement at Coop Digital).<\/p>\n

Also speaking at the event is Trebor Scholz, the author and academic who first coined the term in 2014 in an article criticising sharing economy firms such as\u00a0Airbnb and Uber for their poor treatment of workers. Mr Scholz\u00a0called for democratically controlled co-operative alternatives that \u201callow workers to exchange their labor without the manipulation of the middleman\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like traditional co-ops, platform co-ops are organisations that\u00a0are owned and managed by their members,\u201d says the Open Co-op\u2019s Oliver Sylvester-Bradley. \u201cWhile traditional co-ops are normally based around a physical community of members, platform co-ops live online and are normally populated by online communities of members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sessions throughout the two days will look at subjects such as the commmons, unions, open data and the open app ecosystem. Delegates will be able to take part in practical sessions such as\u00a0how to incorporate a co-op, open manufacturing, collaborative decision making, crowd funding and designing\u00a0your own platform.<\/p>\n

Education is also a strong theme: Simon Borkin (Co-operatives UK), Constance Laisne (AltGen), Dr Richard Hull and the Co-operative College\u2019s Simon Parkinson and Cilla Ross will explore the importance of co-operative education, training and information in increasing public understanding of co-ops.<\/p>\n

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell will be there to\u00a0discuss what governments, local authorities and councils can do to enable platform co-ops to flourish with Dirk Holemas (co-founder and director of Belgian thinktank Oikos and a green city councillor in Ghent), Karin Christiansen (chair of Open Knowledge and former general secretary of the Co-operative Party) and Matthew Brown (cabinet member for social justice, inclusion and policy at Preston City Council).<\/p>\n

Throughout the two days\u00a0the conference will include open spaces for sessions co-created by delegates on the first day.<\/p>\n