This session is facilitated by Kasia Odrozek, Lukas Stolz, Karsten Wenzlaff, Ludovica Rogers
About this session
With activists, researchers and journalists uncovering the root causes of the tech crisis, it is clear that we need concrete new solutions. The session will kick off with a moderated discussion with several champions of the alternative economy: a representative of the platform coop movement, the steward ownership model, a leader of the Zebras Unite movement, and an expert in crowdinvesting. We’ll explore the opportunities and challenges of each of these models and then we’ll open the discussion to all participants in an interactive way. A fun quiz format will provide a frame to identify opportunities for the movement to move forward, as well as current blockers. The outcome of the session will be a catalog of ways forward for an alternative digital economy: what do we need to move it from niche to mainstream?
Goals of this session
We all know the sins of the tech companies these days: hungry for ad revenue, they exploit our data, lure us into dark UX patterns, rush algorithmic solutions that seem to do more harm than good. And yes, they are trying to fix things but honestly, how much incentive is there to act for public good if you have shareholders breathing down your neck? The ownership structure of tech companies is paramount to product decisions that determine the future of our society. As long as the predominant model of funding tech is driven by Venture Capital, these decisions will be favoring the maximization of profit over anything else. The goal of this session is to discuss the emerging alternatives to do business in tech with practitioners focusing on “ethical” funding and ownership and governance structures that are designed to marry purpose and profit in a sustainable way.