Sharing economy; disruptive networks – NRC Live

Liesbeth took part in the NRC Live event on Oct 27th, about the Sharing economy in Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam. Lots of inspiring examples were shown for ways to reduce the need to own consumer goods and bring value to people in other ways. Many startups with a sharing model were present and presenting, from delivery services and cleaning services to local cooking, local education and neighbourhood initiatives to sharing boats, cars, clothes and other stuff. There was lots of debate about rights and rules for giants like AirB&B and Uber. It was good that we were not just talking about them, but there was someone from AirB&B present on one of the panels. On the whole, the event addressed mostly the market perspectives of “how to bring a sharing service to scale” and “how to regulate” when sharing services are crossing over with the public domain, create ‘unfair competition’ or potentially harm worker’s rights.
Some key principles for future developments that were mentioned: Creating trust within communities as the essential ingredient for any sharing initiative. And the need to move from centralized to shared and dynamic ownership, so that the people that are sharing things can run platforms together, rather than just use it or be used by it.