The potential of public (sector) platforms

Metaviews to the Future

Vasiliki Bednar leads us on a discussion on the potential of public platforrms.

We have come to rightfully resent the propaganda of the gig economy that assures us platform companies are equitable when they tend to be exploitative. But they don’t have to be predatory. Other jurisdictions are experimenting with worker-owned platform co-operatives. It’s not too hard to imagine public sector platforms. Indeed, we must first re-imagine them as we consider whether they are worth investing in and building in-house.

There are plenty of places in the public sector that are characterized by matching problems that could be solved with an efficient platform designed with the public good in mind:

• Substitute teachers and school boards;
• Teaching graduates and school boards;
• Medical school graduates and residencies;
• Personal support workers and home care;
• Citizens and psychotherapists;
• Postdoc positions at Canadian universities;
• Etc.

*The province has a lot of regulated professions, but that doesn’t mean that all of them are characterized by matching inefficiencies. Bike share programs are also a neat case study re: public investment and/or partnership in bike sharing infrastructure.

We have certain stereotypes that have come to be associated with platforms that we need to move past if we really want to reimagine them.

What is an ethical/responsible platform that benefits the very same labour that it showcases? Can they exist and persist with a modest profit margin as a non-profit or thrive as a worker-owned co-operative? Can members embrace higher price points that support livable wages and benefits?