PCC announces major new initiative to support the platform co-op community

06 June 2018

$1,000,000 grant will support the development of cooperatives in the digital economy.

The Platform Cooperativism Consortium (PCC) at The New School is pleased to announce a new $1,000,000 initiative to create and distribute the Platform Co-op Development Kit, supported by Google.org. This Development Kit supports the economic development of cooperatives in the digital economy, and will benefit platform co-ops in many countries.

By focusing specifically on providing a critical analysis of the digital economy, and by co-designing open source tools for use by platform co-ops, this initiative will advance co-ops working in sectors such as child care, elder care, and other home services in the United States, Australia, India, Germany, Brazil, and elsewhere. This initiative will be led by Trebor Scholz (Associate Professor of Culture and Media at Eugene Lang College, and founder of the Platform Cooperativism Consortium at The New School) in collaboration with the Inclusive Design Research Center at OCAD University, headed by Jutta Treviranus. Planning for this project has taken place throughout the 2017/2018 academic year, and work will begin in July 2018.

“Co-operatively owned platforms are needed urgently to address the power imbalance between the people who do the work on platforms and the owners of the platforms. In areas like social care, platform co-ops deliver agency and empowerment for workers and high quality and consistent services for consumers of disability and aged care. But their potential use is much more varied and wide. The Australian co-operative sector which counts 2000 businesses and 8 in 10 Australians as members, is proud to be a part of this important initiative through our support for the Platform Cooperative Consortium.”
Melina Morrison CEO Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals.