Typology of Policy Innovations To Regulate the Emerging Platform Economy

Discussion

Natalia Rodríguez Rivera & Mayo Fuster Morell:

"In this part, we will discuss three types of policy innovations:

(1) Platforms —exploring the cases of ShareHub Seoul (Korea), Oppla (European), ShareNL (Amsterdam), and Decidim (Barcelona);

(2) Policy Labs —examining the cases of MaRS (Toronto), MindLab (Denmark), La 27 Region (France), PolicyLab (UK), Helsinki Design Lab (Helsinki), and NESTA ShareLab (UK); and

(3) Challenges —considering the cases of Koom (France), Helsinki Challenge (Helsinki), and City Game Sharing (Amsterdam)."

From the conclusion:

"The challenge for states is to create an institutional framework and the necessary infrastructure that allows for interaction and articulation between different stakeholders to generate practical knowledge, which is, the knowledge that can be translated into public policies or services for more informed, efficient, and sustainable development.

Participatory and human-centred approaches to the design of public policies articulated with other disciplines are one of the possible ways to face these challenges, through a common vision that generates value, insofar as it can create practical knowledge from more dialogues. And public services that respond to common visions on issues affecting a large part of society has occurred, including issues like the environment, economic models, health, and education, among others.

The diversity of examples that help illustrate the tools that states can use, some typologies (platforms, labour policies and challenges) were proposed. Many of these cases refer to collaborative processes that range from processes of reflection and analysis to processes of decision making through the common platform economy. These typologies share the participatory design approach within their objectives, involving most stakeholders in their deliberative and design processes, however, not all of the processes discussed are conceived as open structures."

Platforms

"Platforms are co-productive and deliberative platforms for the exchange of ideas and knowledge between citizens, scientists, policymakers and the rest of stakeholders. Platforms are developed by institutions or organizations (sometimes by the government) to create and support a network (online and offline), that interrelates the social, political and economic dimensions; they have the potential to be a means for experimentation and application of innovative tools. Platforms facilitate the production and dissemination of practical knowledge through different channels, and can also be a training medium. The frequent online and offline interaction of all actors brings together different perspectives and ensure discussion of complex subjects (trying to overcome thinking in isolation). Face-to-face meetings are usually carried out through workshops which, according to Kaaronen (2016), are an effective way to make policy recommendations and, at the same time, bring cognitive and social benefits, by focusing on building trust and skills (Kaaronen, 2016). One of the challenges of some of these platforms, especially those of the FLOSS type (whose management and maintenance depends on a collective), is to achieve a continuity in the time that allows formulation of sustainable public policies; without jeopardizing their political neutrality by being funded by pressured third parties (in Kaaronen, 2016; Zamparutti et al., 2012)."

Policy Labs

Policy Labs are an emergent and powerful methodology for innovation in several areas (Tonurist et al., 2017), yet still limited, and even more limited in the field of policy design (McGann Chapter I. Public innovation in platform economy…et al., 2018). Different policy labs are already in place, but our knowledge of this emerging phenomenon remains very limited (McGann et al., 2018; Bailey & Lloyd, 2016; Kimbell, 2015). The setting up of civic labs to drive innovation in collaborative technologies is suggested as one of the key strategies for rethinking digital policies in the city (Saunders & Baeck, 2015). Policy Labs —a variant of Living Labs— are specialized research bodies for public services design and public policies formulation in an experimental way. Their reference are user-centered design and participatory design for activating the interaction of all actors (citizens, civil servants, public, policy-makers and other stakeholders) to produce practical knowledge that enables the development of bottom-up proposals consistent with real needs at different levels –local, regional or national– (Fuller & Lochard, 2016; García et al., 2016). Unlike Living Labs, most Policy Labs are initiatives undertaken by members of a government, supported by external designers and public innovation experts. Although each has its own organization, structure, objectives and programs, most apply design methodologies, focusing on strategic design and services (Huybrechts et al., 2016), which also include studies for ethnographic research, contextual research, mapping, prototype testing, usability testing, and generative methods (García et al., 2016). Fuller & Lochard (2016) point out that these laboratories, in addition to co-designing and re-imagining public policies and programs, also develop a broad range of activities such as preparing prospective studies, or creativity and learning activities, through which they seek to empower all participants. On the other hand, there are also voices who are arguing for the need to ground design with deeper understandings of political theory (Escobar 2018). As well as the need to create better assessments of the benefits of using design in the context of policymaking, which is showing to impact the modulation of organisational ways of knowing and performing competence (Bailey & Lloyd 2016).

Currently, in some living labs, participatory design processes are being integrated into the concept of infrastructuring, as a way of dealing with complex problems, through establishing long-term working relations with diverse actors (Huybrechts et al., 2016). When speaking about infrastructure processes it is fundamental “to set up, enable, and foster (physical and abstract) democratic spaces that give room for to different and conflicting voices and where actions are taken to mediate these controversies or conflicts” (Bjögvinsson et al., 2012; Huybrechts et al., 2016; Karasti, 2014). This process can be approached from different perspectives, according to the particular needs, some IT systems for work organisation, community settings, societal information infrastructures or formation of communities (Huybrechts et al., 2016). These laboratories are valuable because of their ability to articulate requirements (needs and/or desires) from all participants in the form of more democratic dialogues. Then the spaces that are generated allow mediating between different perspectives, many times (Huybrechts et al., 2016)."

Challenges

Another relevant format is introduced challenges or games held as public competitions, organized (or sponsored) by public entities. Thanks to the Internet, new media and, above all, the possibility of incentives (monetary and/or personal recognition) there are more initiatives based on the possibility of activating participation from a wide range of social actors to imagine more sustainable ways of solving complex problems (Kaaronen, 2016). Many of these challenges have succeeded in drawing the attention of those in charge of forming and designing policies and public services, aware of the needs for different perspectives on any given issue and the value behind the interconnection of proposals, and practical knowledge. Three examples are described below. The first one is interesting because it not only activates the participation of citizens but also its counterpart, allowing for the city council or companies also to take action." (http://www.share.barcelona/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SharingCities_book.pdf)

Source

• Sharing Cities: A Worldwide Cities Overview on Platform Economy Policies with a focus on Barcelona. By Mayo Fuster Morell (ed.) et al. Dimmons Research Group, 2018.

URL = http://www.share.barcelona/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SharingCities_book.pdf