2024-06-12 –, Room D - Water Studio
The growth of digital economy should belong to everyone. More so to the significant percentage of digital platform workforce that power this AI revolution as the ‘humans behind the tech’. Platform economy is seeing exponential growth around the globe and provides jobs and livelihood to millions of workers, many of whom rely on it as their primary source of income. The promise of flexible and independent work often pales in front of the minimum protections, low wages, and limited rights that the workers enjoy. How can we envision a future that is unified, fair, and just when the very backbone of this digital economy – digital workers – are left on their own to navigate the labyrinth of uncertainty and exploitation?
This session confronts these realities of the AI-driven labour market. It offers a safe space to worker representatives, their allies and policy stakeholders to question if the global efforts adequately address barriers and complement the national efforts around tailored regulations. Are the perspectives of workers, their advocates, and innovative organizations like platform cooperatives considered when designing policies? Which data-driven solutions exist for workers and their allies? Can AI even help resolve the issues that its development is causing?
We invite participants to engage in a thought-provoking debate which looks at the humans behind the platforms and the implications of the current AI trajectory on their (and our) collective future. Global experts and institutions committed to fairness and equality will share insights and initiatives to encourage broader collaboration. From essential skills and awareness to data-driven tools and regulatory strategies, experts will reveal effective solutions and ideas to address power imbalances and workers' struggles within AI. This session aims to inspire action, whether you are a tech entrepreneur, advocate, consumer, or policy stakeholder in our digital era.
I am on a professional mission to 'Cultivate Skilled Futures' in the Digital Economy. Currently, as an Advisor on Gig Economy at GIZ, I lead the design and implementation of capacity measures and tools incl. courses, eLearning and trainings that empower platform-based gig workers to thrive in the digital economy. I am implementing multi-stakeholder projects in 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Through information sharing and capacity building, these projects aim to prepare workers in particular women, marginalised youth for digital work.
In the past two decades, I have gained valueable exerience experimenting with various approaches in skills development, vocational education and training, and the digital economy. I am a passionate advocate for human-centered approaches, and deeply committed to crafting equitable, inclusive, and sustainable solutions.
Anna Spinardi is the Program Director for Data Feminism at Data-Pop Alliance. She holds a MSc in Global Development from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a BA in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. Within the development arena, Anna has focused her work and attention on topics related to gender inequality, gender-based violence, and Data4Development. Under Anna's leadership, the Program has completed more than 17 gender-related projects, including gender assessments, capacity-building activities, and GBV modeling and visualization. Prior to working at DPA, Anna developed research on conditional cash transfers and women’s empowerment in Colombia, and on systemic corruption and white collar crimes in Brazil. She also worked as a Gender Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in New York, providing guidance and support to the Brazilian delegation on the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Martijn Arets is an international independent platform expert and from his role as 'professional outsider' has been exploring the rise of the platform economy and its impact on society since 2012. He engages with all stakeholders involved, conducts research and takes an active role in the (public) debate. He shares his insights through presentations, advice, his biweekly newsletter and contributions in the (international) media.
He wrote the Dutch book 'Platform Revolution - From Amazon to Zalando, the impact of platforms on how we work and live'. Martijn is 'lead gig team' at the WageIndicator Foundation and here he contributed among other things to the development of the Living Tariff: a tool to help freelancers make better informed decisions regarding rates and income. He is also founder of KlusCV: a data sharing standard that allows 100,000 platform workers in 6 countries to access their data.