Where open meets co-op
There is a growing consensus that enabling groups, and networks of groups, to work together, is essential to delivering exponential impact in collaboration and solving humanities multiple challenges. The Magical Number Seven, ideas about committees, decision making, teams and productivity all suggest that small groups are the most effective… whilst Hagel suggests that … [Read more...]
One of our key projects at The Open Co-op is The Open Credit Network, which evolved out of OPEN 2018 and our previous work on ideas for a co-op coin. Having tested a proof-of-concept and visited Sardex, a successful mutual credit network in Sardinia, we have now developed a bespoke directory and accounting system to enable UK businesses to trade via mutual credit. The … [Read more...]
*In this article I use the term ‘progressive movement’ to mean all the people and organisations that are working, or would like to work, on creating a world in which people and planet come before profit. If the term does not sit comfortably with you please substitute ‘solidarity economy’ or whatever term you prefer that encapsulates the widest possible breadth of … [Read more...]
The exploitation of temporary, freelance and out-sourced workers is a serious issue. As companies get bigger and more powerful, and operate through platforms which distance them from their stakeholders it is getting easier for them to abuse their workers. This abuse manifests in a number of ways but one which is very close to our hearts is the way that full time workers … [Read more...]
What happened at OPEN 2018? Connections Aside from all the presentations on the Main stage, the workshop sessions and the open space gatherings the main benefit, that people who attended highlighted, were the connections that were made at the event. Our mission brings together so many people from inter-related fields … [Read more...]
DAY 1 The Open Space sessions at OPEN 2018 were a chance for attendees to put forward their own discussion topics. People put forward proposals on Loomio in the run-up to the event, others voted and the most popular sessions took place over the two days of the event. We'd like to extend a big thank you to everyone who came and got involved, and Simon Borkin, David Bent and … [Read more...]
OPEN 2018 is not just about showcasing platform co-ops. It’s about the ownership revolution and forging a path to a collaborative, sustainable economy. It's about creating new organisations which are member owned and democratically governed so that we, the people, have control over the institutions we rely on. Our vision is of a world in which people and planet come … [Read more...]
Have you ever wondered why the world works like it does? Why things seem skewed in favour of the rich and the powerful and why our so called 'democratic' systems seem so inherently unjust? Why we have rampant inequality, poverty, hunger and accelerating species extinctions and runaway global warming? The answers are not simple because these problems are systemic. The … [Read more...]
This article is the second part of our interview with Matthew Schutte, Communications Director at Holochain, which covers their plans to build a "Commons engine" to help provide co-ops with the tools they need to communicate, coordinate and cooperate at scale. In part two Matthew explains how Holochain enables "protocol" rather than "platform" cooperation, by proving an … [Read more...]
Holochain is a new technology project with huge potential for the cooperative economy. Members of The Open Co-op have been promoting the idea that new software could, potentially, revolutionise both our failing democracies and our predatory capitalist economies, since 2004. Back then we weren't quite so clear on exactly how the required information architecture should be … [Read more...]