We know the sharing economy as an efficient and convenient resource, and launchpad for trendy startups like Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit. But the sharing economy could help address needs for a much wider swath of society, instead of just enabling better options for the already-privileged. At Techonomy 2013, Brookings Institution fellow Jennifer Bradley discussed the sharing economy’s opportunity for inclusion, such as creating an Uber-like system to help low-income people get to work, and enabling the sharing of essential “means of production” like 3D printers and power tools. “How can we take these sharing mechanisms and torque or repurpose them from the point of view of people for whom sharing is not a cool, optional, sexy, ‘I-don’t-want-to-be-burdened’ thing, but for people for whom it’s an absolute necessity because they don’t have the resources for traditional ownership?” Bradley posits. If we could, the sharing economy could be a powerful engine for economic growth and job creation.
Brookings’s Bradley: A Sharing Economy That Serves All
We know the sharing economy as an efficient and convenient resource, and launchpad for trendy startups like Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit. But the sharing economy could help address needs for a much wider swath of society, instead of just enabling better options for the already-privileged. At Techonomy 2013, Brookings Institution fellow Jennifer Bradley discussed the sharing economy’s opportunity for inclusion, such as creating an Uber-like system to help low-income people get to work, and enabling the sharing of essential “means of production” like 3D printers and power tools.
By Techonomy Media
Tech's Impact on Business and Society, techonomy.com
Today technology is inextricably entwined with just about every activity that humans undertake. Techonomy embraces that fact, and seeks as a company to help the world take advantage of it. We cast our lens broadly across business and society in order to highlight and explore the manifold ways in which tech’s impact is felt. Techonomy Media hosts conferences and dinners and publishes editorial content, including video journalism. We make our programs accessible to a wide audience because it is impossible to know where leaders will emerge, and because the world increasingly recognizes that, for better or worse, we are all in this together.
Related Posts See All
The Sharing Economy and the Symbiotics of City Life
Sharing and so-called “collaborative consumption” is poised to alter city life, company life, and family life. We now use digital tools to assist in sharing cars, bikes and apartments. But we’ve always shared apartments, restaurants,...
Urban Evolution or Intelligent Design?
Traditionally, urban centers have grown around specific need: sustenance, trade and commerce, manufacturing, governance. Today, cities evolve around centers of critical information. How do you build a city for the 21st century? Should conventional urban...
What to Read: Silicon Heartland–Transforming the Midwest from Rust Belt to Tech Belt
We know the sharing economy as an efficient and convenient resource, and launchpad for trendy startups like Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit. But the sharing economy could help address needs for a much wider swath of...
Holy Grail or Over-Hyped?
We know the sharing economy as an efficient and convenient resource, and launchpad for trendy startups like Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit. But the sharing economy could help address needs for a much wider swath of...