INCA project

Who is Driving the Innovation? From Tech Alarmism to Digital Alternatives
2024-03-14 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/Madrid) | Dostoievski (former Plugarilor) str., no. 34-36, room 7
INCA partners Niccolò Cuppini (University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland) and Maurilio Pirone (University of Bologna) will present INCA’s results on the Sociology Research Seminar organized by FSAS-UBB on March 14th.
The dominant contemporary paradigm of technological transformation assumes that a few giant companies have a monopoly on innovation, while people are threatened by mass surveillance and States can simply regulate the market. For this reason, Big Tech has gained overwhelming power nowadays, resembling more and more modern commercial empires. Citizens can only attempt to limit such power embedded in corporate technological supremacy.
Nevertheless, for many years, digital technologies have been the subject of several narratives and attempts aiming to democratize technological innovation as a tool for a fairer society, from cybernetic experiments in the Allende’ Chile to the gift economy of hacker culture.
Drawing upon the results of our ongoing INCA project, our partners will present a genealogy of digital transformations from the 1960s to the present day to highlight how technological innovation has become increasingly financialized and centralized. They will analyze the different political options toward the organization of digital innovation, arguing that more than simply limiting the power of Big Tech, it would be fundamental to regain control over the planning and design of technology.

Workshop ‘Democracy and Capitalism’
2024-03-14 14:30 - 2024-03-15 14:30 | KU Leuven University or Online
The DemoTrans Horizon Europe project is organising a workshop that will promise rich insights into the intricate relationship between democracy and capitalism, offering a blend of theoretical and practical perspectives crucial for policy makers, academics, and professionals engaged in shaping the future of democratic governance.
PROGRAM
Day 1: Thursday, March 14th
14:30 – 15:00 Registration and coffee
15:00 – 16:15 Research Session 1 – Taxes
• Will the Global Minimum Tax Reduce Profit Shifting? Petr Jansky
• Corporate Tax Avoidance and Within-Country Inequality, Marek Sedivy
• What Drives the Location of Profits: Examining the Behavior of Multinational Enterprises from Country-by-Country Reporting, Tomas Boukal
• Does Tax Avoidance Make Large Firms Even Larger? Tijmen Tuinsma
16:15 – 16:30 Break
16:30 – 17:45 Research Session 2 – Procurement
• Pre-procurement market engagement for addressing competitiveness,
sustainability, and technology sovereignty: Evidence from an EU-wide survey, Pelle Berkhout
• European Cohesion Policy and Public Procurement in Spain, Jihwan Ryu
• European funds and green public procurement, Vita Titl
• A transaction cost theoretic vignette experiment on the public procurement of broader outcomes, Thomas Balbach
18:00 – 19:00 Social Activity
Guided tour with tasting at the Domus Brauhaus, a local small-scale brewery (http://www.domusbrauhaus.be/).
19:00 – Dinner
We will continue with our dinner at Domus Brauhaus

Day 2: Friday, March 15th
09:00 – 09:45 Keynote Speech
Germá Bel (Universitat de Barcelona)
Five Decades of Reforms for Local Public Service Delivery
09:45 – 10:00 Q&A
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:30 Research Session 3 – Networking
• Getting in line: Synchronizing mechanisms in temporary inter-organizational networks, Vibeke Kroken
• A temporal approach to ‘Fitting in’: A longitudinal survey design.– Democracy and Capitalism, Ben Geys
• The Power of the Pen: Influence of Lobbying on the legislative procedure in Europe, Emilie Wojcieszynski
• TBC, Takis Iliopoulos
11:30 – 12:30 Research Session 4 – Policy and Democracy
• Lobbying firms/politically connected firms and revolving doors in the European context, Emilie Wojcieszynski
• Should technological sovereignty be part of challenge-led innovation policy? Pelle Berkhout
• On the drivers of voting behaviour, Lorenzo Catalano
12:30 – 13:00 Conclusion and Lunch
HOG 00.10, Naamsestraat 69

The workshop is free of charge and is offered in person or online, but registration is necessary: REGISTRATION HERE

International Workshop “Exploring new patterns of platform urbanization and citizenship”
2024-02-06 08:00 - 2024-02-08 17:00 | Future Cities Lab Global, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
On 6-8 February 2024, the international workshop “Exploring new patterns of platform urbanization and citizenship” will be held in Singapore, organized by the National University of Singapore and the Singapore University of Technology and Design, in cooperation with INCA.
Among others, key challenges of platform urbanization and citizenship will be discussed during the workshop, and a presentation of INCA project will also be offered.
The full program is available here

Investigating Amazon. Ecosystems of 4.0
2024-02-01 09:00 - 11:00 | Università di Cagliari
INCA consortium partners Niccolò Cuppini (SUPSI) and Mattia Frapporti (University of Bologna) will present a paper on INCA research entitled “Investigating Amazon. Ecosystems of 4.0” at the SISEC conference: Work, enterprises and territories between proximity and distance.
The presentation will take place on 1 of February from 9.00 am to 11.00 am in room 11. It will be part of the S3 Panel 5 “The digital transition between proximity and distance: How are work, organisation and markets transformed?”
Full programme here

CALL FOR PAPERS for the VII International Conference "Social Boundaries of Work. Critical Labour Studies in the Times of a Polycrisis"
2024-01-26 08:00 - 2024-03-01 17:00 | University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
The Department of the Sociology of Work and Economic Sociology at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Wrocław, the Sociology of Work Section of the Polish Sociological Association, the Wrocław branch of the Polish Sociological Association, the Critical Labour Studies Network and the Research Committee 44 “Labour Movements” of the International Sociological Association invite you to participate in the international conference entitled “Social Boundaries of Work. Critical Labour Studies in the Times of a Polycrisis“, to be held in Wrocław on 16-18 October 2024. The deadline for abstracts submission is March 1, 2024.
The conference is dedicated to analysing the relationship between academia and the world of work in the context of overlapping and reinforcing socio-economic crises. The COVID-19 pandemic was not only a profound crisis of public health, but also of public services and the social security systems which have been under pressure for years from neoliberal reforms. The escalation of armed conflicts in Europe as a result of Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine only exacerbated the refugee movements that had been underway for years. The post-pandemic reality is also marked by a cost-of-living crisis that has deepened existing social inequalities and the impoverishment of many groups of workers.
In this conference, they want to look at the interplay of between the worlds of academia and labour under the conditions of the polycrisis outlined above. Applications from both academics and social practitioners representing trade unions, labour movements but also employers’ organisations are encouraged. Those representing the labour journalism circles community are also welcome to participate.
Deadlines and practical information

Until 1st of March 2024 – abstracts submissions via the conference form (please include: name and affiliations of referees, affiliations, email, title of paper, abstract (250-500 words) – please use the form: https://forms.gle/ufR2YxjtLcXUQZzh8
15 April 2024 – announcement of the list of accepted abstracts (evaluation is made by the organising committee and the conference scientific council)
31 May 2024 – deadline for payment of the conference fee

Platform Architecture Roundtable
2024-01-25 09:30 - 18:00 | Room RTZ 102 in the building Reitse Toren Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 109, 5037 DB Tilburg, Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 109, Tilburg, Netherlands
Platform power comes in many shapes, which allow for different categorizations. One helpful categorization is based on the subjects of platform power. It distinguishes platform power over markets, over individuals, and over society. Platforms can abuse this power. A common way of doing so is through ‘choice architecture’, i.e., the way in which a platform designs its digital environment to guide the choice of its users. Implementing defaults, ordering results, and prominent placement are common examples of choice architecture.
Architectural choices can be neutral or even to the benefit of users, but they can also result in harm. A marketplace platform could, for example, nudge individual consumers to qualitatively inferior or over-priced products. When such nudges are systematic, they can have market-wide consequences. They could, for example, distort competition between sellers. This becomes more likely when a platform has a financial interest in promoting certain products or services over others (e.g., because they are affiliated to the platform). And when choice architecture influences the opinions of individuals, e.g., by hiding or removing content, society at large is affected.
Different legal instruments target platform power, and in particular choice architecture. Competition law and the Digital Markets Act focus on markets, consumer and data protection laws are more concerned with individuals, and the Digital Services Act and AI Act consider societal risks. Certain obligations, e.g., those aimed at transparency, are found in multiple instruments. Questions arise with regard to the regulatory fit (are there overlaps or gaps?) and effectiveness (does transparency work given the bounded rationality of individuals?).
Our event explores the different forms of platform power through the lens of choice architecture. The aim is not only to connect different branches of law, but also to learn from other disciplines such as ethics, computer science, and economics. Invitees include academics and selected representatives from industry, regulators and non-governmental organizations. The event takes the form of an interactive roundtable. To kickstart discussion, invited speakers give short opening remarks (around five minutes each). Everyone can then join into a lightly moderated debate. Discussion is structured within four panels.
There are a few seats left for those interested to participate. If you would like to attend, please contact Friso (f.bostoen@tilburguniversity.edu) or Inge (i.graef@tilburguniversity.edu).
Note that this is an in-person event, online participation is not possible.
Venue
Room RTZ 102 in the building Reitse Toren
Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 109, 5037 DB Tilburg
See a map here
The venue is a 5 minute walk from the Tilburg University train station.

Program – Thursday 25 January 2024
9.30–9.45 Opening
9.45–11.00 Panel 1: an interdisciplinary introduction to choice architecture – moderated by Giorgio Monti, Tilburg University
▪ Gunes Acar, Radboud University Nijmegen
▪ Bart Engelen, Tilburg University
▪ Ben Schroeter, Booking.com
▪ Shiva Shekhar, Tilburg University
11.00–11.15 Coffee break
11.15–12.30 Panel 2: choice architecture and individuals – moderated by Friso Bostoen, Tilburg University
▪ Silvia de Conca, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
▪ Raphaël Gellert, Radboud University Nijmegen
▪ Catalina Goanta, Utrecht University
▪ Anne-Jel Hoelen, Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets
12.30–14.00 Lunch at Esplanade (a 10 minute walk from the venue)
14.00–15.15 Panel 3: choice architecture and markets – moderated by Jasper van den Boom, Tilburg University
▪ Alessia D’Amico, Utrecht University
▪ Victoria Daskalova, Utrecht University
▪ Inge Graef, Tilburg University
▪ Claudio Lombardi, University of Aberdeen
15.15–15.30 Coffee break
15.30–16.45 Panel 4: choice architecture and society – moderated by Inge Graef, Tilburg University
▪ Quirine van Eeden/Mariëtte van Huijstee, Rathenau Instituut
▪ Joris van Hoboken, University of Amsterdam
▪ Maria Luisa Stasi, ARTICLE19
▪ Cristiana Teixeira Santos, Utrecht University
16.45–18.00 Closing and drinks
Convenors: Friso Bostoen & Inge Graef, Tilburg University

CALL FOR PAPERS: “Looking back, moving forward” : Re-assessing technology regulation in digitalized worlds
2024-01-15 - 2024-01-31 | Tilburg University campus
Call for papers. The deadline for submission is January 31, 2024
They value the multi- and inter-disciplinary approach highly, yet are also open to specialized papers on a relevant topic from a particular scientific discipline.
They welcome:

Extended abstracts for presentation of research papers, position papers, works-in-progress and other academic contributions fitting the conference theme.
Proposals for panels and interactive workshops fitting the conference theme.

More information here and on the official website!

The Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT), is delighted to announce the 8th edition of the TILTing Perspectives Conference “Looking back, moving forward: Re-assessing technology regulation in digitalized worlds”.
The conference will take place on July 8, 9, 10, 2024 at the Tilburg University campus and will coincide with TILT’s 30th anniversary celebrations. We see this as a fitting moment to take stock of decades of technology regulation and how it impacts our lives and the digitalized worlds around us.
Looking back, moving forward: What has been accomplished? By whom? And where? What is missing? Who is missing? What can we say about the relations between technology-focused regulation and other regulatory foci and modes of standard-setting?
Reflecting on these questions leads us along diverse paths of inquiry. In the realm of governance: the ways in which different forms of technology regulation are being designed, critiqued, promoted, exported, and rejected, raise questions of standing and agency with regard to technology as a power, as well as on regulatory power. On the intersection of human rights & technology, perceived challenges to a broad range of established fundamental rights raise questions about the suitability of old and new legal frameworks such as treaty law and national constitutions, the proposed EU AI Act, Data Protection, and Cyber and Data Security regulation — not least in situations of warfare. Questions with regard to competition & innovation focus on the regulatory challenges posed by ongoing social and technological transformations in key sectors such as energy, finance and healthcare, as well as the challenges of (finding new ways of) regulating competition and intellectual property rights in an increasingly digitalized world.

Chokepoints in Logistics. Organizing potentials in the logistics sector in Poland in times of crises
2024-01-09 13:30 | Online
On January 9 2024, the HuLog project will give an online seminar where our partners from the University of Wrocław Szymon Pilch and Adam Mrozowicki will give a presentation about “Chokepoints in Logistics. Organizing potentials in the logistics sector in Poland in times of crises”.
The presentation reconstructs the worker’s power (“organising potentials”) of Amazon’s Poland employees in times of polycrises and it will focus on the following:

Logistics as choke-point of global capitalism (Alimahomed-Wilson & Ness 2018): further rise of workers’ structural power during Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent, interlinked crises vs. ongoing precarisation, algorithmic control and anti-union strategies.
The question of the conditions which allow workers’ structural power and societal power to be “converted” (Bourdieu 1986) into associational power: What are the organizing potentials in the context of increased workers’ structural power in the times of post-pandemic interlinked crises?
Interviews with workers and trade unionists in three sections of the logistics in Poland: logistic centres, parcel- and online food-delivery, truck transport.
Poland is chosen as the representative country in which private logistics industry is very weak unionised, but at the same time one can observe a variety of union innovative practices in the recent years to mobilise and represent workers.

If you are interested in participating in the event, please, register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczVXjldfhgJpEVcjw2yExXAtMS3lUALxTBujVolB8-t0yIEA/viewform

AI for the People: Immaginari e Politiche dell’Intelligenza Artificiale
2023-12-20 15:00 - 22:00 | Teatro del Damslab, Piazzetta Pasolini 5B, Bologna, Italy
On 20 December 2023, a workshop and two talks will take place in Bologna, Italy, to understand, experiment and democratize artificial intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence is suddenly becoming part of our daily lives. The launch of platforms like OpenAI has had an (apparently) disruptive impact on digital innovation trends, regardless of the metaverses Zuckerberg was aiming for.
Big tech corporations (particularly Microsoft and Google) are once again the main players driving these transformations. At the beginning of 2023, Microsoft invested several billion euros (at least ten), also offering OpenAI its physical and Cloud (Azure) infrastructure to implement its performance. In response, Google is challenging OpenAI in terms of performance with its project called Bard. The challenge is open and has crossed Western borders if we also consider the arrival of Ernie Bot promoted by the Chinese Baidu.
This powerful technological innovation is giving rise to profound debates, between those who say for the umpteenth time that this technological leap will lead to the end of work – especially the most “human” of creative functions – and those who contest AI’s independence from work alive – bringing it back to a form of intensification and extension of work – and its structural characteristics – questioning not only whether it is “intelligent”, but whether it is also “artificial”.
Be that as it may, the techno-political function of AI imposes on us the need to develop not only forms of understanding and regulation but also experiments that can test its liberation aspects, the strengthening of autonomous forms of social cooperation, and the opening of new common imaginaries.
More info and the video recordings of the talks are available here.

To share or not to share: can data sharing be a viable strategy in platform competition?
2023-12-13 16:30 - 18:00 | Online, HIIG, Berlin, Germany
Data plays a crucial role in the operations of digital platforms. Online platforms generate data on user behaviour, financial transactions, and performance statistics and integrate them into their business models and governance strategies. Today, major tech conglomerates have access to enormous amounts of data, which creates formidable barriers for new market entrants and leaves them with limited growth opportunities. Can data sharing be a viable strategy in platform competition? What data can be shared, with whom, and under what conditions?
In our upcoming discussion, we will examine empirical cases of data sharing in industrial digital platforms and scrutinize the European Union’s regulatory landscape about data use and reuse.
This event is part of the ‘INCA workshop series.’
Speakers

Inge Graef is an Associate Professor of Competition Law at Tilburg University. She is affiliated with the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) and the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC). Her research focuses on competition law, platform regulation, and the governance of data.
Timo Seppälä is a University Lecturer (Operations Management) at Aalto University. He earned his PhD in industrial economics and management. His scholarly work has touched upon global value chains, digital platforms, and, lately, the semiconductor industry. He serves as a chairman of the board at Koja Yhtiöt Oy & Koja Oy and a member of the board at Koja USA Inc. and Chiller Oy (An Aalto Family Company).
Moderator
Alina Kontareva will be moderating the discussion. She is a senior researcher in the Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Society research group at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and co-lead of the INCA research project at HIIG. Alina’s research focuses on online platforms and particularly on national platform alternatives, their competitive strategies, and the role of the state in competition and innovation.

To participate in the event, please register here. You will receive the login details on the day of the event.

TOWARDS A FAIRER PLATFORM WORK: POLICY PROCESSES AND SOCIAL DEMANDS
2023-10-13 09:00 - 18:00 | Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Milan, Italy
Seminar funded by the COST Action Platform Work Inclusion Living Lab with the support of Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli and Horizon Europe INCA project.
Rising at the crossroads between waged labour and self-employment, very often positioned in the labour law grey areas of the legislative systems of European countries, platform work is the subject of a deep and variegated debate with respect to the type of regulatory intervention to put in place in order to guarantee, at the same time, a development of the sector and the protection of workers.
While the awareness that regulatory intervention is necessary seems to have settled – both at academic and public policy level – there are still sharp differences as to how.
There is a renewed role of public institutions – from municipalities to states – in favouring collective bargaining between companies and platforms, as well as in defining regulations on different scales. Local experiments were followed by several legislative initiatives at national level (Italy, Spain). To these, the proposal for a European directive (2021) that is still under discussion must be added.
Alongside these initiatives, platform workers’ mobilisations continued in some sectors, in particular in the food delivery. In some cases, e.g., that of the Takeaway group, the trade unions signed collective agreements with the companies, settling the construction of a more stable system of industrial relations.
The effects and evaluations of these initiatives are manifold; in some cases, they have profoundly changed platform work, in other cases they have struggled to find effective implementation or have been strongly opposed by workers or companies.
The seminar will consider both policy initiatives (top-down) promoted by national and European institutions, and company agreements and demands (bottom-up) expressed by workers’ mobilisations.
Format
Participation is free but under registration by 9 October 2023. Fill the form at the following link: https://forms.gle/CNiT8igzyVCq52d58
Then you will receive an official email invitation by the COST Action P-WILL you will have to accept.
It will be possible to participate both online (Zoom) or in person.
The seminar will be organised around 4 sessions – 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon – concentrated in a single day.
The morning sessions will focus on legislative initiatives (top-down) promoted by national and European institutions, the afternoon session on company agreements and demands (bottom-up) expressed by workers’ mobilisations.
The contributions will address the following topics:

Do legislative proposals have to be focused exclusively on platform work or work in general?
Is it enough to define one European legislative initiative for all platform workers or do we need multiple laws tailored to the different categories of platform workers?
How in force legislations affected platform work? Did they improve working conditions and social protections?
Is the EU directive a promising solution? Which are its value and its potential risks?
What strategies of resistance and mobilisation (formal and informal) can we identify in the context of platform work? Are they adequately supported by the existing legislation/practices?
Which real life examples of resistance and mobilisation in platform work can we draw from?
How decolonial and feminist perspectives may help to better understand workers’ claims and protests?
Are industrial relations strong enough to self-regulate platform work? May we appoint some collective agreements as best practices?

Agenda
9:30-10:00 Welcome and introduction
Maurilio Pirone (University of Bologna)
10:00- 11:30 The path towards a EU Directive on platform work
Chair: Guido Smorto (University of Palermo)

Class actors and dynamics influencing the EU Platform Work Directive

Ben Wray (Gig Economy Project)

A feminist critique of the EU directive

Nelli Kambouri (National Hellenic Research Centre, online)

The power of lobbying

Edoardo Mollona (University di Bologna)
11:30-12:00 Break
12:00-13:30 Innovating policies
Chair: Mattia Frapporti (University of Bologna)

Right to disconnect

Kosjenka Dumančić (University of Zagreb)

What law for domestic platform workers? Comparative study of France, Sweden, and European Union

Claire Marzo (University Paris Est)

From Labor Law to a Law on Persons? Attempts to Regulate Tax Status of Online Labour Markets Workers in Serbia

Branka Andjelkovic, Tanja Jakobi, Maja Kovac (Public Policy Research Centre)
13:30-14:30 Lunch refreshment
14:30-16:00 How platforms are transforming labour and social reproduction
Chair: Niccolò Cuppini (SUPSI)

Platforms and welfare

Ivana Pais (Catholic University of Milan)

Platform work and piece wages. How piecework affects workers’ opinions on platform work regulation?

Laura Valle Gontijo (University of Brasilia)

Platforms and social fabric

Olegario Batalla (Autonomous University of Puebla)
16:00-16:30 Break
16:30-18:00 Workers’ strategies
Chair: Maurilio Pirone (University of Bologna)

Legislative initiatives in Greece and the EU, trade unions and workers’ actions

Maria Kyriakidou (American College of Thessaloniki)

Strategies of Resistance and Mobilization in the Context of Platform Work

Isidora Milosevic, Anđelka Stojanović (University of Belgrade)

The strike of the food couriers

Rose Marie Azzopardi (University of Malta)

Social dialogue in the platform economy. The case of Slovenia

Maja Turnšek (University of Maribor)

Workshop: From ‘Big Tech’ to ‘Small Tech’: Values, Norm-Building, and Open-Source
2023-10-12 17:00 - 18:00 | Online, HIIG, Berlin, Germany
Online platforms are shaping various aspects of our social, political, and economic lives and have become not only integral to our daily routines but also ignited critical discussions. As the focus shifts towards making platforms more socially responsible and accountable, we find ourselves at the crossroads of innovation and responsibility.
In our discussion, Christina Dinar and Martin Kenney will open up a conversation about platform alternatives to global monopolists and discuss how open-source could be used as a competitive strategy.
Speakers
Christina Dinar is a Junior Researcher for Platform Governance at Leibniz Institut for Media Research|Hans Bredow Institut and specializes in community-involved content moderation practices and user participation perspectives. She will present the outcomes of her research project on small platforms and user courts.
Martin Kenney is a Distinguished Professor of Community and Regional Development at the University of California, Davis, and a Senior Project Director at the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy. Martin’s scholarly interests are in the interplay between technology, academic institutions, finance, and competition in capitalist economies and how these dynamics affect people and places. Martin has written extensively on platform economy, platform entrepreneurship, and competition.
Moderator
Alina Kontareva will be moderating the discussion. She is a senior researcher in the Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Society research group at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and co-lead of the INCA research project at HIIG. Alina’s research focuses on online platforms and particularly on national platform alternatives, their competitive strategies, and the role of the state in competition and innovation.

To participate in the event, please register here. You will receive the login details on the day of the event.

# Digital Labor in the Wake of Pandemic Times
2023-10-09 13:40 - 15:20
INCA partners Niccolò Cuppini (SUPSI) and Maurilio Pirone (Bolognia University) will present a paper entitled “Platform Labour in the Cloud Metropolis. Case Studies, Trajectories and Tendencies” at the INDL conference in the session “Digital labour, time and space”.
The presentation will take place in Session 2B Digital labour, time and space, from 13:40 to 15:20.
INDL, the International Network on Digital Labor, is an initiative founded in 2019. INDL’s mission is to organize international conferences and foster global-level collaboration between academia and civil society. INDL conferences welcome stakeholders such as experts, media, union leaders, and policymakers.

Let’s talk competition - It’s soon time for DMA compliance
2023-09-28 13:00
The third Let’s Talk Competition conversation will focus on the impact of the Digital Markets Act for gatekeepers.

Three renowned experts will share their unique perspectives on this important policy development:

Mr. Alberto Bacchiega, Director for Digital Platforms at the Directorate-General for Competition;

Ms. Vanessa Turner, Senior Advisor for Competition at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC);

Ms. Inge Graef, INCA partner and Associate Professor of Competition Law at Tilburg University.

Ms. Aoife White, Technology and Competition Editor at Politico will moderate the debate.

The event will take place on 28 September 2023 at 13:00 (CET) and it will be webcasted on this website as well as in DG Competition YouTube channel.

You are warmly invited to join the conversation and pose questions to the speakers via Slido. No need to pre-register.

CALL FOR PAPERS for a workshop on Lobbying and Political Influence
2023-07-18 - 2023-08-15
On November 7 2023, DemoTrans and Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) will organise a workshop on Lobbying and Political Influence in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The purpose of the event is to bring together researchers working on the topics of lobbying, corruption, political connections and influence to present and discuss their ongoing research and to stimulate interaction and cooperation between them. We especially welcome submissions dealing with the effects of digitalization and transparency reforms on the aforementioned issues and applications in public procurement markets. Submissions dealing with broader issues in political economics are also welcome. The deadline for full papers is July 31, 2023.

The workshop is organized as a part of the DemoTrans project, a consortium of researchers from KU Leuven, Utrecht University, Charles University, University of Bergen and Tax Justice Network (TJN) investigating the interchange between globalization and democracy in Europe.

Deadline and practical information

Submission deadline for full papers: July 31st 2023
Please submit via email: lobbying.workshop@uu.nl
Acceptance decisions: August 15th 2023
Participation fee: € 120 euros (including social dinner on November 6th)

Go to the call for papers (PDF)

Workshop: Global Infrastructures: The Production of the Modern World
2023-06-09 00:00 | Department of Arts of the University of Bologna, Via Barberia, 4, Bologna, 40123, Italy
A collaborative workshop organized by the Institute of Contemporary History at Nova University, Lisbon, and the University of Bologna, Italy, will take place on the 9th of June 2023 at the University of Bologna in the Department of Arts.
In the last twenty years, in correspondence with the growing importance assumed by Global History, numerous studies have analysed past border-crossings and long-established transnational networks. This seminar intends to contribute to the discipline by promoting a collective investigation of the origins and development of global infrastructures, emphasizing how their construction interacted with colonial projects, capitalist ventures, and cultural superstructures.
The workshop will focus on questions such as:

What global infrastructures have contributed to the construction of the modern world and the establishment of a single world market?
Which public and private actors have participated to the construction and securing of global infrastructures?
What ecologies of labour have been mobilized during the erection of global infrastructures?
What forms of resistance and sabotage have opposed and slowed down the development of planetary infrastructures?
What has been the impact of climate change and the ecological crisis on global infrastructures?
How can the concept of infrastructure contribute to expand Marxist theories beyond the traditional distinction of economic structure and cultural superstructure?
How can historical approaches help us rethink the relation between global infrastructures and imperialism?

Program:
10-10.30 Welcome and Introduction
10.30-12.00 Imperial Infrastructures (Chair & Introduction: Franco Tomassoni, Colabor)

Maria do Mar Gago (IHC – Nova Lisbon) – Botanical Networks as Imperial Infrastructures: Plantations and agro- ecology in Colonial Angola (1940-1961)
Romario Sampaio Basilio (Nova Lisbon) – Failed Railways in El Dorado: Collaboration, Competition, and Scarcity in a Megaproject for the Amazonia-Guianas Remoteness (c.1870-1914)
Emilio Distretti (University of Basilea) – The Coloniality of Infrastructure: Italian Imperial Highways in Libya and Ethiopia (title tbc)

12.00-13.30 Lunch Break
13.30-15.00 Oceanic Infrastructures (Chair & Introduction: Amedeo Policante, IHC-Nova Lisbon)

Matteo Aria (La Sapienza) Navigational Infrastructures: Governing the Sea through Meteorological Prediction and Fo
Erica Borg (King’s College) Media Infrastructures: Coloniality, Capital Circulation and the Equiano Project
Lorenzo Pezzani (University of Bologna) Title To Be Confirmed

15-15.30 Coffee Break
15.30-17 Digital Platforms as Infrastructures (Chair & Introduction: Mattia Frapporti, Unibo)

Alina Kontareva (Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society) and Martin Kenney (University of California, Davis) – Protecting Domestic Platform Infrastructure: How Russia Mitigated Dependence upon US West Coast Platform Giants
Marco Marrone (University of Salento) – The Infrastructural Power of Digital Platforms
Davide Blotta, Abdallah Hassan, Riccardo Sacco (University of Urbino) The camera is working! Making the migration infrastructure in Bosnia and Sudan.

17-18.00 Final Roundtable and Collective Discussion led by Sandro Mezzadra (Università di Bologna), Maurilio Pirone (Università di Bologna), Niccolò Cuppini (SUPSI) and Amedeo Policante (IHC-Nova Lisbon).

Exhibition: “Data is a relation, not a property”
2023-05-05 00:00 - 2023-05-26 00:00 | DumBO, via Casarini 19, Bologna, Italy
From 5 to 26 May 2023, in the spaces of Bologna Attiva at DumBO, the INCA partner Fondazione per L’innovazione Urbana host the exhibition “Data is a relation, not a property”, presented in 2021 by the Austrian Pavilion Platform Austria at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Data is a relation, not a property stages a polyphonic, profound and punctual account of the process of the ‘flattening’ of existence, with a specific look at so-called ‘platform urbanism’, i.e. the forms, dynamics and ways in which digital platforms transform the urban and its forms of life. It is a visual, textual, theoretical, artistic and research exploration that allows us to enter into the complexity, dynamics, tensions and trends of our platform-society, and contributes to creating a public space for reflection and discussion on some of the issues that affect the present of our city and contribute to designing its future.
Through a composite programme which, within the framework of the exhibition, provides for the organisation of different moments of encounter, this second life of Platform Austria will give space in particular to the deepening of the slogan “Data is a relationship, not a property“, in order to open a public reflection on the construction of new and different data policies, and on the experimentation of alternatives to the privatisation of data.
The programme:

Friday 5 May, 16.00 – 17.30: workshop What about art and the digital? Tips and insights.
Carmen Hines (Technische Universität Wien) and Benjamin Gerdes (Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm) will lead this workshop, which aims to measure how contemporary art is being transformed in the maelstrom of digitalisation. Through the discussion and viewing of the works of some digital artists, a collective reasoning on this issue will be developed through the confrontation with heterogeneous artistic practices. Secondly, the workshop intends to reflect on how it is possible to rethink forms of art exhibition and curatorship in the light of the most recent technological transformations symbolised by Artificial Intelligence.
Friday 5 May, 6.30 pm: talk and opening of the exhibition “Data is a relation, not a property”
Peter Mörtenböck and Helge Mooshammer, Curators of Platform Austria and Professors at the Technische Universität Wien will open the exhibition with an introductory talk.
The talk will be in English with a presentation of the contents in Italian. Followed by an aperitif. Free admission.
Friday 26 May, 6 p.m.: Round table and closing Data as common. Possibilities, experimentations, risks.
Programme to be finalised.

The exhibition is open from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission.
All events are held at the Officina shed in DumBO, via Casarini 19.

Social justice, Economic democracy, Corporate governance and Resposibility
2023-04-28 17:30 | Polo Piagge, Via Giacomo Matteotti, 11, Pisa, 56124, Italy
Lorenzo Sacconi will be the speaker of the talk “Social justice, Economic democracy, Corporate governance and Resposibility” that will take place on the 28th of April 2023 at 5.30pm CET.
Lorenzo Sacconi is Professor of economic policy at the University of Milan. He is also Director of the inter-university center EconomEtica, member of the Italian Society of Law & Economics and a member of several international scientific associations. Previously, he was Professor of economic policy at the University of Trento, where he had the Unicredit Chair in economic ethics and corporate social responsibility. He taught at the University of Pavia, Bocconi, Cattaneo-LIUC of Castellanza, Oriental Piedmont and IUSS (Pavia). He was among the founders and president of the Italian Network of Business Ethics as well as in the executive committee of the European Network. He collaborated with the Department of Public Administration of the Italian Government and was an Italian representative on the Advisory Committee of Council of Europe experts for the drafting of the “Charter for Europe of shared responsibility”.
The event is open and free for all interested participants, who are welcome to join in person or by connecting online.

Report Launch: Fairwork UK Ratings 2023 – A Call for Transparency
2023-04-28 14:00 - 17:00 | Newspeak House, 133 Bethnal Grn Rd, E2 7DG GB, London
Digital labour platforms are increasingly challenging conventional employment relations and shaping the future of work in the UK. On the one hand, gig work promotes economic growth and the creation of new jobs lowers labour market entry barriers for some workers, and provides job flexibility to those who need it. On the other hand, companies might slip through existing regulatory frameworks and workers experience unfair working conditions on the platforms.
This year’s report ‘Fairwork UK Ratings 2023: A Call for Transparency’ evaluates working conditions at 12 of the most popular digital labour platforms in the country, including Amazon Flex, Bolt, Deliveroo, Getir, Gorillas, Just Eat, Ola, Pedal Me, Stuart, Task Rabbit, Uber, and Yoopies. Our findings reveal that there are significant shifts underway in the platform economy in the wake of a tech financing collapse, a cost-of-living crisis, and the alleviation of COVID-19 restrictions for a whole year. Whilst the pandemic may have been halcyon days for platform companies, the reality is starting to bite. We’ll be asking whether workers are left paying the price.

PROGRAMME:
14.00 – Welcome
14.15 – Presentation of report findings
14.45 – Panel discussion
16.00 – Live audience Q&A
16.30 – Networking
*Drinks and light refreshments will be provided.
PRESENTERS:
Dr. Adam Badger, Lead Researcher, Fairwork UK, Oxford Internet Institute
Dr. Funda Ustek-Spilda, Senior Researcher and Project Manager, Fairwork UK, Oxford Internet Institute
EXPERT PANELLISTS:

Dr Sarrah Kassem – Lecturer, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Tübingen
Emma Selinger – Ventures Manager, Resolution Foundation
Michael ‘Six’ Silberman – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
Ferdousara Uddin – Regional Organiser, GMB Union

CALL FOR PAPERS for a collaborative workshop: Global Infrastructures: The Production of the Modern World
2023-04-21 00:00 - 2023-05-09 00:00
In the last twenty years, in correspondence with the growing importance assumed by Global History, numerous studies have analysed past border-crossings and long-established transnational networks. A collaborative workshop organized by the Institute of Contemporary History at Nova University, Lisbon, and the University of Bologna, Italy, intends to contribute to the discipline by promoting a collective investigation of the origins and development of global infrastructures, emphasizing how their construction interacted with colonial projects, capitalist ventures, and cultural superstructures.
The workshop will focus on questions such as:

What global infrastructures have contributed to the construction of the modern world and the establishment of a single world market?
Which public and private actors have participated to the construction and securing of global infrastructures?
What ecologies of labour have been mobilized during the erection of global infrastructures?
What forms of resistance and sabotage have opposed and slowed down the development of planetary infrastructures?
What has been the impact of climate change and the ecological crisis on global infrastructures?
How can the concept of infrastructure contribute to expand Marxist theories beyond the traditional distinction of economic structure and cultural superstructure?
How can historical approaches help us rethink the relation between global infrastructures and imperialism?

We welcome papers dealing with all these aspects from an interdisciplinary perspective. Interested scholars are invited to send a long abstract between 400 and 700 words and a short bio to policante@fcsh.unl.pt and/or to mattia.frapporti2@unibo.it by the 9th of May.
Successful applicants will be communicated by the 12th of May and invited to the final workshop that will take place on the 9th of June 2023 at the University of Bologna in the Department of Arts.
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