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| Image courtesy of Institute for the Future, Workable Futures Initiative
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8 principles for "Positive Platforms"
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Apps are not just platforms for consumption; for many in the gig economy, they are entry points for work—gateways to livelihoods—and their creators are engaged in socioeconomic design, says Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute for the Future and author of Nature of the Future. Gorbis cites the need for on-demand platform creators to imbue their products with not just technological expertise but also serious consideration of economics, political science, governance, and other issues. Says Gorbis,
"The design of 'Positive Platforms'—platforms that not only maximize profits for their owners but also provide dignified and sustainable livelihoods for those who work on them, plus enrich society as a whole—is one of the most urgent tasks we are facing today."
In this post from Medium's WTF Economy collection, Gorbis outlines 8 principles for creating on-demand platforms that enable better work futures.
+ From TechCrunch: The gig economy as a driver of innovation
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Terrifyingly convenient artificial intelligence
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AI-driven virtual assistants, conversational bots, and software agents such as Alexa, Cortana, Siri, and Facebook M have insinuated themselves into our lives, and their creators hope we develop humanlike relationships with them. But there's a price to be paid when we establish trust with these devices and apps. The sources they pull from to respond to user requests are programmed in, and the information that users reveal about themselves gives the large corporations that make these helpful tools greater influence over our decisions. Slate explains why AI assistants are "terrifyingly convenient."
+ From Business Insider: The inside story of how Amazon created Echo, the next billion-dollar business no one saw coming
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2016 predictions from 55 rideshare experts
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Blogger and podcaster Harry Campbell, aka the Rideshare Guy, asked 55 experts on the ride-hailing industry for their opinions on this year's biggest challenge for on-demand workers and the gig economy in general, and what major changes they expect to see in 2016. The most common responses center on employee/contractor classification (especially the California lawsuit against Uber, which goes to court in June), benefits, worker protections, legislation, the cautious funding environment in Silicon Valley, industries that have arisen to serve on-demand workers, and the race to the bottom in terms of driver compensation. Tim O'Reilly was one of the experts queried. His response, in part:
"Ride-sharing companies will have to come to grips with the fact that keeping drivers happy is as important as keeping customers happy. The company that best serves its drivers will end up having a competitive edge."
+ One trend gaining traction this year: carpooling
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John Battelle foresees the reinvention of capitalism
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| "Technology has become both compass and map for deciphering just about every social issue," says writer and entrepreneur John Battelle. Now that the tech revolution has succeeded, he believes the next big story on the horizon will be an entirely new approach to business, one that values a culture of integrity, transparency, and sustainability. He already sees evidence of this evolution at major corporations such as Unilever and GM, which have been shaken out of complacency by upstarts like The Honest Company, Dollar Shave Club, Uber, and Lyft. You can read his post here.
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6 steps for performance management in the gig economy
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Organizations increasingly rely on agile talent—the freelancers, gigsters, advisers, contract workers, and consultants that comprise as much as 40% of the workforce. It's a figure that most business leaders expect will increase due to the need for speed, flexibility, and innovation. (Indeed, last month PwC launched its own online talent marketplace to connect gig workers with projects.) Managing these workers is not the same as managing employees. In order to best leverage agile talent, the Harvard Business Review outlines 6 steps to manage the performance of gig economy workers.
+ At Oracle, HCM strategy director Andy Campbell suggests that companies should apply the principles of the gig economy in managing their internal workforce, offering employees the opportunity and flexibility to take on new challenges and learn new skills.
+ Somewhere in between full-time employment and the gig lifestyle: jobbaticals
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Deeper reading: The Fight for $15
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| An author couldn't dream of a more auspicious release date for a book. Just as governors Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to raise the minimum wage in California and New York to $15 per hour, labor leader David Rolf's long-awaited book, The Fight for $15: The Right Wage for a Working America, hits the shelves. Rolf, founder and president of the SEIU's Local 775, teamed up with entrepreneur and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer to spearhead the battle that established Seattle's pioneering $15-per-hour minimum wage, which has since been adopted in other US cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. (Both Rolf and Hanauer spoke at our Next:Economy summit in 2015.) Here's a profile of Rolf from the American Prospect, and here's an excerpt from The Fight for $15.
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