Work “uberized”, a fancy tale?
Work is the first topic we’re discussing at civic innovation network. Here is a little summary of what comes out of it.
Can we call this time of ours the “Uberisation” of society? Meaning that old traditional and rigid structures are disappearing and giving ways to new flexible employment patterns.
We are witnessing increasing flexibility in working hours, in the scope of selling one’s services and in choosing task-based work. The question arises when flexibility is put forward before ensuring security.
The influences of new technology, economic instability and changing social behaviours have a huge impact on our work patterns — Artificial Intelligence, automation and robotics are set to eliminate half of the workforce in the next twenty years, while social or tech entrepreneurs are ‘changing the world’, enterprise by enterprise.
It is said that the sharing and circular economy can transform our cities, mutualise community resources, open up opportunities for skill sharing and non-monetised resource exchanges.
One might wonder — how can we reach such an economy and a future of work where the desire for wealth and subsequent opportunism doesn’t harm others? The shift to portfolio driven careers enabled by peer-to-peer platforms offer extreme flexibility, however, this comes with the cost of longer working hours without real wages and social security.
Perhaps the future of work is all about creating new enterprises that encourage value, open communication and transparency, which any company should indeed be practicing.
Ultimately, working towards enabling a structural shift from an externalization heavy capitalist economy, towards a commons economy.
There are many questions we are debating at civic innovation network and we invite you to join us to think and shape the answers with us.
How can we ensure the coexistence of security and flexibility in work, with no boundaries either way?
Is “peer-to-peer economy” or “solidarity-based communities” the future of work?
Last week we gathered at SMartBe, our first community partner and a crucial actor in Brussels in the field of Work. The purpose of the evening was to collectively explore these questions, highlight creative solutions and to leverage the crowd from Brussels — with you included — to list critical and high priority problems that require solutions.
It was our first from the series of nine events that will take place in Brussels from January to March. Each of these events are organised around one topic that is integral to our city and support our online campaign called OpenWall.
Read more about OpenWall here.
During the event two civic innovators presented their work on the topic “New forms of work”.
Philippe Vandenbroeck from http://www.shiftn.com
What we ended up with: the challenges raised during the collective intelligence session
On the OpenWall platform, you’ll find only a few problems related to the future of work, along with a mere glimpse of a solution. We know there are many more possibilities and we want to leverage the crowd from Brussels — with you included — to list the critical problems of high priority that require solutions. Steady unemployment rate, the rise of freelancing, human resources, wages, inequalities, innovation scene mirage, the need for meaningful jobs…the list can go on. We’ll make sure to match the issues with existing or new solutions. Much can be improved and concrete solutions that already exist here and elsewhere could truly inspire us.
Join us on OpenWall to get your voice heard!
And join our next event and topic discussion on urban regeneration here!
Written by Khushboo Balwani.
Read more about the topic of Work from around the web:
BASIC INCOME
Survey on Basic Income: What do Europeans think about basic income?
Largest Basic Income Experiment Worldwide
Long read: People don’t work just for the fun of it
ROBOTS AND YOU
Take the quiz to find out if robot will take your job
Are creative jobs a solution to automation?
Technology has always changed employment, but the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence could transform it beyond recognition.
RISE OF FREELANCERS AND MICRO-ENTREPRENEURS
Figuring out the freelance economy
How freelancers are reinventing work through new collective enterprises
Redefining work: the role of freelancers, policymakers and businesses
NEW FORMS OF WORK AND ORGANISATIONS
Experiment on decentralizing an organization with Blockchain
