OpenCourier Protocol
= "creates a common technical foundation that lets worker-owned delivery platforms connect and work together" [1]
URL = https://opencourier.cs.princeton.edu/
Description
1. By R. Trebor Scholz & Mark Esposito:
"The OpenCourier protocol, for instance, creates a common technical foundation that lets worker-owned delivery platforms connect and work together. It does this through three building blocks: a directory where platforms can find each other, a communication system that lets couriers talk to any platform using the same language, and a transparent way to manage orders. Like the early Internet standards that let any website talk to any browser, this approach uses open, publicly available tools so that independent, worker-owned platforms can share information and resources without needing a corporate middleman. This shared technical framework is essential because it eliminates fragmentation across the stack, allowing localized cooperatives to scale collectively while maintaining linguistic and operational sovereignty."
(https://ssir.org/articles/entry/artificial-intelligence-solidarity-ecosystem)
2.
"Open Courier is building a new kind of delivery ecosystem to counter the key problems nowadays: unfair power dynamics between the platform and the workers, lack of transparency with algorithms that make decisions behind closed doors and infrastructural designs that don’t reflect workers' values or community needs .
We envision a decentralized ecosystem of community-owned delivery platforms that:
- Let couriers choose where to work based on their preferences and values.
- Increase interoperability, so anyone can audit the ecosystem.
- Support open-source developments, so tools made by one can benefit everyone in the ecosystem."