Cross-posted from Shareable.

Tom Llewellyn: The People’s Disruption: Platform Co-ops for Global Challenges kicks off this weekend at The New School and Civic Hall in New York City, New York. The annual event — now in its third year — will bring together a diverse group of experts who are pushing the platform co-op movement forward. While past conferences have sought to popularize the concept of platform co-ops and develop an ecosystem to support their growth, this year the goal will be to “zero in on ways that platform cooperatives can help to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges.”

What exactly is a platform co-op? It’s a digital platform — a website or mobile app that is designed to provide a service or sell a product — that is collectively owned and governed by the people who depend on and participate in it. That includes those who deliver the underlying service by contributing labor, time, skills, and/or assets. Where corporate “sharing” platforms extract value and distribute it to shareholding owners who seek a return on their investment, platform co-ops distribute ownership and management of the enterprise to its participants — those working for the platform or those using the service. You can read more about it in our in-depth explainer. We also published a feature story this year that explored the emerging funding models for platform co-ops.

There’s still time to buy tickets to the conference. Key events at this year’s event include:

Friday, Nov. 10:

Lecture: Joseph Blasi: How to reform existing Federal and State tax and credit policies to encourage new broadly owned businesses. | 2-2:45 p.m. ET

Public Event: “What happened to the future?” A discussion aimed at reclaiming a story of the future, economic justice, and a social economy built on platforms we can co-own and co-govern featuring Alicia Garza, Douglas Rushkoff, Felicia Wong, and Yochai Benkler. | 7-9 p.m. ET [This event is free and open to the public]

Saturday, Nov. 11:

Lecture: Juliet Schor: Surprising new findings from in-depth interviews with earners on six platforms. | 9-9:45 a.m. ET

Panel: Next Tech: AI and Big Data | 10-11:30 a.m. ET

Panel: Next Labor: Designing platform cooperatives in a worker-centered way | 1:30-3:00 p.m. ET

The full schedule can be found here: https://platform.coop/2017/schedule