14 Apr Article entitled ‘Data Co-operatives in Pandemic Times’ published in the journal Public Seminar

This is article entitled ‘Data Co-operatives in Pandemic Times’ published in the journal Public Seminar in Open Access. This article suggests avoiding ‘co-op whitewashing,’: experiments with data co-ops should be co-developed with communities connected to the long history and analysis of the various forms of cooperatives.

To cite this article:

To cite this article: Scholz, T. & Calzada, I. (2021), Data Cooperatives for Pandemic Times. Public Seminar journal. Retrieved from: https://publicseminar.org/essays/data-cooperatives-for-pandemic-times/ DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.12320.51200/1.

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemia will hardly fade away in the upcoming months or even years. More urgently, it might have already shown how vulnerable human beings are regarding the consequences of a global turning point as the pandemic. Gladly though, the resilient reaction here and there undoubtedly from people and communities depicted encouragement and is being reflected in local communities. An internationalist movement driven by a vision of a Digital Cooperative Commonwealth is required to structure a social and economic post-pandemic transformation. Reshuffling the ‘old normal’ will not be enough, we need already ‘a new now’. We consider these pandemic times to be productive for experimentation with data cooperatives, working toward reducing health inequalities, building more responsive systems of care, and adequate medical services. Data cooperatives must be shaped by those who need them most, grounded in the history and practices of the global co–operative movement. We see a virtuous tornado of federations of small cooperatives forming on the horizon.