The COVID19 pandemic is having significant impacts on the economy, and in particular on the platform economy. The lockdown has forced a large portion of the world population to stay home and determined an important transformation of consumption and socialization habits and styles. Unlike traditional production sectors that are seeing a very strong contraction of their market, the digital economy is undergoing a very dynamic phase and in some sectors is even experiencing a strong growth.

If on the one hand tourism, short term rentals and urban mobility are incredibly suffering, on the other hand e-commerce, social networks, entertainment, communication and logistics platforms are experiencing an incredible expansion of their business volume and, at the same time, a reshaping of their production systems.

To make some examples, some platforms, such as Deliveroo and Glovo, have been changing their production organization, expanding the core business and extending it from home delivery of meals to that of grocery and other stuff. At the same time, Amazon confirms the centrality of its technological and organizational infrastructure, placing itself as an essential service. New dynamics are emerging also in terms of the relationship between platforms and workers. The most striking case is Uber, which by ensuring the availability to cover its drivers' periods of illness related to the contraction of the virus, makes explicit the relationship between platform and workers and, in so doing, recognizes the responsibility for providing the service.

The seminar aims at discussing emerging trends and possible evolution of the platform economy with particular attention to regulatory implications.

Speakers

Antonio ALOISI, IE Law School, IE University, Madrid
Antonio Aloisi is Assistant Professor of European and Comparative Labour Law at IE Law School, IE University, Madrid. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence. He holds a doctorate in business and social law (2018) from Bocconi University, Milan, where he also taught at the School of Law and at the LLM in Law of Internet Technology. He has also been a visiting researcher at the Saint Louis University. His research focuses on the impact of digital technologies on labour regulation and social institutions. In particular, Antonio studies non-standard forms of employment, platform work, AI and management by algorithms, and new practices of collective action. He has been involved in several research projects commissioned by international institutions or research centres. He has authored or co-authored a number of articles, book chapters and op-eds. Twitter @_aloisi | https://sites.google.com/view/antonioaloisi/home | ssrn.com/author=2428967
 
Davide ARCIDIACONO, Universita' degli Studi di Catania
Researcher in Economic Sociology at the University of Catania and PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Sciences. In 2015 ,VISITING RESEARCHER at the Institute for Social Research (SOFI), University of Stockholm. Member of different Editorial Board of the peer reviewed journal like “Polis”, “Review of European Studies”, “Athens Journal of Social Science” , “Consumatori, Diritti e Mercato”. Member of the Scientific Committee of  ”Sharitaly”, the biggest Italian convention about the sharing economy. He is also member of the board of the Italian Economic Sociology Association (SISEC). He is co-editor of the Sociological Review monograph "UNBOXING THE SHARING ECONOMY: opportunities and risks of the era of collaboration,  Moreover, on  the issue of collaborative economy he recently published: (with  Pais I.), Individual rewarding and social outcomes in the sharing economy, in Bruglieri M. (ed.), Multi-disciplinary Design of Sharing Services, Springer, London, 2018; (with Podda A)., Sharing time: new forms of reciprocity in the digital economy, WORK, ORGANISATION, LABOUR & GLOBALISATION JOURNAL, vol, 11, n. 2, 2017.
 
Franco BECCHIS, Turin School of Regulation (TSR)
Scientific Director of the Foundation for the Environment and of the initiative ‘Turin School of Regulation’, he coordinates research programmes on the interaction between economics, energy and the environment and on local public services, as well as capacity building and support activities for local public entities. He has been contract Professor in Environmental Economics at the Polytechnic of Torino, University of East Piedmont and Saint John International University. His last academic publication is “The Political Economy of Local Regulation”, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
 
 Juan MONTERO, European University Institute/UNED
Professor of Administrative Law at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid. His research is focused on the regulation of network industries, particularly railways, telecommunications and posts. He has published six books and more than forty scientific articles on independent regulatory agencies, network access regulation and public service obligations. He provides regular advice to carriers and governments on institution building, liberalization and public service schemes.

Pier Luigi PARCU, European University/FSR C&M
Prof. Parcu is currently Area Director of the FSR Communications & Media, Director of the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom and of the Florence Competition Programme. He is also Chairman of a consultancy company specialized in antitrust and regulatory issues of network industries. From 2000 to 2003, he has been CEO of the Independent System Operator running the Italian Electricity Grid (GRTN). From 1991 to 2000 he was the Director of Investigation at the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) in charge of several regulated sectors. Previously, he served as Chief Economist at the Italian Security and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) and as Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Working language: English

Partecipation is free upon registration.

For further info please contact info@turinschool.eu