Sowing the Seeds: Platform Cooperativism for Asia

Join the first event seeking to explore ways in which cooperatives can join the digital economy in Asia.

We invite interested citizens, policymakers, designers, IT professionals, media and legal scholars, representatives of cooperatives, unions, and non-governmental organizations to “Sowing the Seeds: Platform Cooperativism for Asia” to be held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), September 28-29, 2018.

Working language of the conference will be English.

For the first time, participants from across Asia, the Pacific Rim, and beyond will meet to discuss how the platform model, rooted in the principles of broad-based ownership and democratic governance, could come to fruition in Asian countries. Participants will analyze the on-demand economy. Platform co-ops will exchange best practices.

A collaboration between the Chinese University Hong Kong and the Platform Cooperativism Consortium at The New School in New York City, this event is focusing on the following questions:

— Global and local contexts: How can the seeds of platform cooperativism spread across Asia? What are the local needs when it comes to worker voice, democratic governance, and fair pay?

— Success stories: In Asia, how can platform co-ops succeed in sectors such as care work, food delivery, transportation, and translation?

— Cooperatives: In Greater China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia, how could cooperatives of various forms meaningfully join the digital economy and empower workers, women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and others?

— Finance: How to start a platform co-op? How to finance it?

— Governance: How to secure democratic decision-making among distributed workers?

— Openness and Transparency: Why fighting for cooperative data ownership and a diversified digital economy is at the heart of this work?

— Intersections: How the commoning movement and platform co-op movement may cross-fertilize?

— Policy and Sustainability: How to improve the regulatory environment to secure the long-term success of cooperative business models of Asia?

The information-packed conference will address the above questions while facilitating dialogue and collaboration across geographical, cultural, and sectorial boundaries.

Preceding this two-day event, there will also be a “Co-op Hackathon 合作松” during September 26-27, 2018. The hackathon will bring together co-op member-owners, IT programmers, graphic designers, and digital media analysts from across Greater China (mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong). The goal of this hackathon, focusing on projects in the local communities of Hong Kong and South China, is to inspire collaboration between co-ops and technical circles. Please contact us directly if you are interested in this part of the event. Details and registration for the Co-op Hackathon: http://caa-ins.org/archives/2739

Getting to the Conference Venue: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/english/university/visitors.html