In a celebration of collaboration and innovation, the 3-day Global Platform Cooperativism Consortium (PCC) 2023 conference was held at the Kerala Arts and Crafts Village, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (India) from 30 November to 2 December 2023. Themed 'Roots of Resilience - Building Platform Cooperatives for Sustainable and Feminist Local Economies,' the conference was co-organised by the Platform Cooperativism Consortium (PCC) at the New School, New York, USA; IT for Change, the IT & policy focused think-tank based out of Bangalore, India; and the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC), Government of Kerala.
Platform cooperatives being democratically owned and governed digital platforms, provide a means for individuals and communities to cooperatively own and manage digital services. The conference aimed to examine how these models can be leveraged to empower local collectives, self-help groups, producer organisations, worker collectives, etc.
One of the key highlights of the event was the panel discussion on 'Public Policy for A Just Digital India', where Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director of ICA-AP, delivered a compelling talk exploring how the Digital India model has catalysed the adoption of the digital services across the country and explored this from the lens of the cooperatives. He opined that the specific instances of digitisation of PACS and cooperatives across the country and encouraging their participation in the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) would help them seize the digital transformation opportunity in the country.
Mr. Iyer outlined appropriate policy measures as five key pointers merely beyond IT infrastructure, namely a) in the case of India where cooperatives are a state subject there is a need for harmonisation of laws, b) exploring how local communities can be empowered by digitalisation - promoting financial inclusion (physical mode) and bridging the digital divide keeping in mind the gender gaps within the digital divide, c) decentralised governance through people-centred models that imbibe normative digital rights and promotion of digital literacy and education through the same, d) having a policy push for promotion of platform cooperatives in the country, and e) access to funding for such newer models of digital cooperative entrepreneurship.
The session, designed to explore the pivotal role of policy in supporting alternative digital platforms, featured seven-minute flash talks and policy recommendations from other key experts like Ms. Anita Gurumurthy, Executive Director, IT for Change, Mr. Kiran Jonnalagadda, Co-founder & CEO HasGeek, National General Secretary, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), and Prof. Trebor Scholz, Founder of Platform Cooperativism Consortium, The New School. The interactive format, including a two-minute challenge and rapid-fire policy pitches, added dynamism to the session, offering a wealth of insights and ideas.
Three staff from ICA-AP – Mr. Ganesh Gopal, Lead - Entrepreneurship Development, Mohit Dave, Head - Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation, and Shree Padmanabhan, IT/Communications Support Officer participated actively in the panel discussions and community lab sessions.
Three insightful community lab sessions were organised on the sidelines of the conference. Community labs saw participation from a mix of experts, practitioners and cooperative researchers as a platform to discuss challenges faced by platform cooperatives in the Global South and brainstorm their solutions. The first community lab on “Guiding cooperatives for the digital future and advancing platform co-ops in India for sustainable growth” stressed the need to re-look at techno-centrism merely as a solution for several problems. The session opined that while building technology for a people and planet-centric future, the technology used should be adopted, understood and owned by the community to create normative, non-exploitative algorithmic frameworks.
The second community lab on “Co-op Tech and the Digital Commons” undertook an exploration of merging cooperative models with digital technology to foster a global data commons, promoting shared ownership, democratic governance, and inclusivity in the digital realm. The third community lab themed “Gig Workers Re-Imagine Their Futures” explored visionary and practical pathways towards better working conditions and opportunities within the gig economy.
The final day of the conference was marked by the unveiling of the 'Thiruvananthapuram Declaration.' Dr. PV Unnikrishnan, Member-Secretary of KDISC, presented this landmark outcome in the presence of Prof. Trebor Scholz and Prof. Thomas Isaac, Former Minister for Finance, Govt. of Kerala. The declaration charts a clear path forward for the platform cooperative movement at large across the world and was hopefully described by Prof. Scholz as a ‘new magna–carta’ for the movement.
The declaration envisions a techno-social order based on fraternity and cooperation, challenging the extractivist impulse of digital capitalism. The key points include a call for a paradigm shift towards cooperativist production principles, emphasising shared ownership of technological resources for inclusive, equitable, just, and creative societies. The five-point agenda focuses on innovative public goods, a whole-of-society approach for empowering futures of work, a digital-age overhaul of cooperatives and social enterprises, civic intelligence, and socio-political citizenship, as well as a sustainable digital transition. The declaration urges global support and endorsement, emphasising the need for collective commitment to shape a positive digital future. The declaration reflects a commitment to reshape the digital landscape with a cooperative and inclusive ethos, promoting fair distribution of value, digital rights awareness, and sustainable technological practices.
During the closing ceremony, Mr. Gopal delivered a short synthesis of the three-day conference, encapsulating the rich discussions, insights, solutions and collaborative spirit that defined the event. Representatives of ICA-AP member organisations like the INKUR Federation from Indonesia, and National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) and the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) from India also participated in the conference. Two of the former ambassadors for the Global Cooperative Entrepreneurs (GCE) initiative organised by the ICA-AP office as part of the ICA-EU partnership project (2016-21) also attended the conference from Indonesia and India respectively.
The Global PCC 2023 conference was not just a convergence of minds but a testament to the potential of cooperative movements in shaping sustainable and feminist local economies. Reflecting on the event, the participants felt reminded that roots of resilience grow stronger when nurtured by values of collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to building a just and inclusive digital future and that a world of collaboration lies ahead, beyond one fraught with competition primarily for profits.
More information about the conference including programme details, speaker interviews and session recordings are available here.
