Digital Worker Inquiry: Data, Solidarity & Leverage

Edinburgh Centre for Data, Culture & Society

Showcasing worker-led data projects, discussing creation of apps, tools & software + challenges of working with worker data.

This event is co-hosted by the Centre for Data, Culture &amp; Society&#x27;s Digital Social Science research cluster and the Edinburgh Futures Institute. The event is made possible through a collaboration with<a href="https://endl.network/indl/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> INDL (International Network on Digital Labour)</a>,<a href="https://www.isrf.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> ISRF (Independent Social Research Foundation)</a>, and <a href="https://www.stuc.org.uk/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">STUC (Scottish Trade Union Congress)</a>, <a href="https://prospect.org.uk/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Prospect</a>, and with support from the <a href="https://workersobservatory.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Workers&#x27; Observatory</a>.The platform economy runs on data-- much of it drawn from work processes, worker bodies, and work-based interactions. Yet workers themselves have often been severed from accessing what becomes proprietary and commercial data. In response, workers, researchers, activists, and organisers have come together to design and develop various data-driven interventions and tools with the explicit aim of enabling workers to study, understand, resist, and reformulate these working conditions. To date, these projects have not yet been put in conversation so that new audiences, including trade unions and worker coops, may learn best practices, develop models for their own inquiry, or learn from project failures. Our event aims to generate that conversation.Over two days, we will showcase worker-led data projects, ranging from the creation of apps, tools, and software to the discussions of the ethical, technical, and legal challenges of working with or organising through worker data. Four themes inform the workshop:• Stories of the Build: The Who, What, and Why of the Tool• Ethical and Technical Challenges of Accessing Worker Data• Legal Concerns and Challenges of Building with Worker Data• Building Solidarity Through Data-Driven Organising: Does it work?ScheduleDay 1: Thursday 28 October, 13:00 - 19:00 BSTThe first day of the event will showcase data-driven inquiry projects. Invited speakers are asked to tell us “the story of the project,” exploring what they have created and why. We want to see how these projects were developed: what they did and whether such projects brought workers together as part of the process. The first panel is for workers, organisers, and researchers to show us what they’ve created and to share their stories about how it worked, how it hasn’t, or what they might do differently next time.Following on from this showcase, our second panel will explore the technical and ethical challenges of accessing, working with, and storing or maintaining worker data. The aim is to seed a conversation about next steps, both ethical and technical. Where did data go? How was it maintained? Who takes responsibility for it? What role might data coops/trusts play here?Day 2: Friday 29 October, 13:00 - 19:00 BSTOur second day returns to address the legal challenges of inquiring with or through worker data. Here, we explore the opportunities and challenges of worker data rights, the limits of GDPR, and the ways that workers and unions are contesting and expanding current legal frameworks.We then turn to the question of organising and solidarity in our final panel to raise the question of “what works” here beyond the development of the app or tool. Are these projects effective at drawing workers together? Do they draw institutions together or forge new alliances (for example, across unions, universities, and other social institutions)? Do these tools enable formal or informal organising, and if so, how?DAY 1 FULL PROGRAMME1:00-1:15pm - Workshop Introduction: Why Digital Worker Inquiry? - Karen Gregory1:15-2:30pm - Project Panel - Chair: Paola Tubaro (CNRS and University of Paris-Saclay)<ul><li>Wilneida Negrón - Co-Worker.Org</li><li>Louise Patel - The Time Project, Share My Telly Job (SMTJ)</li><li>Arturo Arriagada - Fair Work Chile</li><li>Ricardo Gonzalez - Fair Work Chile</li></ul>2:30-2:45pm - Break2:45-4:00pm - Technical &amp; Ethical Challenges: Building with Worker Data - Chair: Oliver Bates (Lancaster University)<ul><li>Saiph Savage - Northeastern University, Civic AI Lab</li><li>Angelika Strohmayer - Northumbria University</li><li>Josh Hughes - Trilateral Research</li><li>Jenny Andrew - CSP Union &amp; DAMA UK</li><li>Danny Spitzberg - Turning Basin Labs</li><li>Rich Gall - UTAW</li><li>Adrian Friday - Lancaster University</li></ul>4:00-4:15pm - Break4:15-5:30pm - Project Panel - Chair: Carlos Alvarez (Northumbria University)<ul><li>Hays Witt - Driver’s Seat</li><li>Funda Ustek-Splida - Oxford Internet Institute, Fair Work Project</li><li>Jeff Vize - Georgia Fair Labour Platform</li><li>Martijn Arets - GigCV</li></ul>5.30-5.45pm - Break5:45-6:45 - Keynote: Christina Colclough, Founder of The Why Not Lab6:45-7:00pm - Wrap-up &amp; Conclusion Day OneDAY 2 FULL PROGRAMME11:45-12:00pm - Welcome Back - Karen Gregory12:00-1:15pm - Project Panel - Chair: Mike Saunders (Scottish Tech Workers)<ul><li>Felipe Bonel - Contrate Quem Luta</li><li>Hannah Johnston - Fairwork and Organise</li><li>Boyan Karabaliev - Edinburgh Workers Observatory</li><li>Cailean Gallagher - Edinburgh Workers Observatory, STUC</li></ul>1:15-1:30pm - Break1:30-2:45pm - Legal Challenges of Accessing &amp; Building with Worker Data - Chair: Wenlong Li (University of Birmingham)<ul><li>Lillian Edwards - Newcastle University</li><li>James Farrar - Worker Info Exchange</li><li>Joanna Bronowicka - Centre For Internet &amp; Human Rights</li><li>Janis Wong - University of St Andrews (CRISP)</li><li>Aislinn Kelly-Lyth - Law, University of Oxford </li></ul>2:45-3:00pm - Break3:00-4:15pm - Project Panel - Chair: Kate McCurdy (University of Edinburgh)<ul><li>Caroline Sinders - Convocation Design + Research</li><li>Joel Bray - Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee</li><li>Sylvia Morse - Up &amp; Go Cooperative</li><li>Cosman Popan - Manchester Metropolitan University</li><li>José Sherwood - Manchester Metropolitan University</li></ul>4:15-4:30pm - Break4:30-5:45pm - Solidarity, Organising &amp; Leverage: Do Tools Work? - Chair: Cailean Gallagher (Workers Observatory, STUC)<ul><li>Andrew Pakes - Prospect Union</li><li>Sebastian Kennes - United Freelancers Belgium</li><li>Lina Dencik - Cardiff University, Data Justice Lab</li><li>Miranda Hall - New Economics Foundation</li><li>Tanja Vicas - Digital Danube Network</li></ul>5:45-6:00pm - Break6:00-6:45pm Keynote: Roz Foyer, General Secretary STUC6:45-8:00pm - Wrap-up and Wine Reception with Digilabour

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Digital Worker Inquiry: Data, Solidarity & Leverage

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