If you’re in Brussels in late June don’t miss this conference on the social digitalisation of work which will feature, among many others, my colleague Michel Bauwens. The following is extracted from the conference’s website.
The purpose of this ETUC/ETUI conference is to discuss how the world and nature of work and employment is being changed radically by the digital revolution.
Contrary to similar conferences, this event will not only focus on the quantity of work (‘will robots destroy our jobs?’) but also on the quality of work (working conditions, life-work balance, autonomy versus precarious jobs, impacts on social dialogue, health and safety at the workplace etc.) and the challenges of these trends for trade unions and workers.
It will try to answer the question how trade unions and civil society can help define a path to a ‘social digitalisation of work and the work place’ which will support and even strengthen the overall well-being of Europe’s workers.
Monday 27 June 2016
11.00 – 13.00
Plenary A: Inaugural keynote speeches (Room: Belgium)
14.00- 15.30
Panel 1: Collaborative economy and platform capitalism (IRES)
Panel 2: The future of industry in Europe
Panel 3: Digitalisation – more democracy in public services and public service workplaces? (EPSU)
Panel 4: Private services (UNI Europa)
Panel 5: Future of jobs in the digital network economy
15.30 – 16.00: Coffee break
16.00-16.20
Keynote speech EU Commissioner (Room: Belgium)
16.30-18.30
Plenary B: The big picture (setting the scene) (Room: Belgium)
Tuesday 28 June
9.00-11.00
Plenary C: Technology
Plenary D: Employment
11.00-11.30 Coffee break
11.30-13.00
Panel 6: Organising and representing workers in the digital economy
Panel 7: Inequalities and labour market polarisation
Panel 8: Psycho-social risks of future forms of work (EFFAT with EFBWW)
Panel 9: Circular Economy as a driver for jobs and industrial development (IndustriAll with EPSU)
Panel 10: Working time
13.00 -14.00 Lunch break
14.00 – 15.30
Panel 11: Work intensification
Panel 12: Workplace innovation in the second machine age
Panel 13: Data protection for employees (UNI Europa)
Panel 14: Amazon (UNI Europa and EPSU)
15.30 – 16.00: Coffee break
16.00 – 18.00h
Plenary E: Working conditions
Wednesday 29 June
09.00 – 10.30
Panel 15: Skills and training in the 4th Industrial Revolution: what do companies need? What can workers hope?
Panel 16: Basic income
Panel 17: Working conditions in the Share Economy – Platformworkers – How to organize the crowd?
Panel 18: New forms of work and labour market policies
Panel 19: Negotiating the new world of work – what role for collective bargaining?
10.30 – 11.00: Coffee break
11.00 – 12.30
Panel 20: How governments tackle the digitalisation challenge
Panel 21: Back to the future: is the sharing economy a threat or opportunity for trade unions?
Panel 22: Dealing with Change: New roles and capabilities for trade unions (CRIMT)
Panel 23: How to organise the process of digitalisation of the work places?
Panel 24: Workers’ participation and the introduction of new technology
12.30 – 13.30: Lunch break
13.30 – 15.30
Plenary F: How to re-think labour law? (Room: Belgium)
15.30-16.00 Coffee break
16.00-18.00
Plenary G: The way forward (Room: Belgium)