Uber’s IPO will value the company at more than $80 billion, yet the data it collects on its users may be worth even more – and creates the potential for dangerous manipulation.
The Uber driver walkout raises questions about how workers can fight for better pay and benefits in the age of the gig economy – a topic frequently on the minds of Conversation scholars.
Drivers for Uber, one of the most successful companies in the gig economy are set to strike by turning their apps off for one day this week as their company prepares for its IPO.
One of Uber’s selling points is that a driver is always available to pick up a rider within minutes. But the drivers who make this possible aren’t being compensated for the time they spend waiting.
Government regulators and industry experts often overlook the complexities and risks of human-technology interactions and increasingly rely on companies’ voluntary oversight and self-assessments.
The sharing economy is often romanticised as a shift away from the evils of capitalism to a more communal and socially conscious way of life. But is this simply clever marketing?
Companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Airbnb and Tesla are redefining key aspects of daily life such as work, mobility and leisure, using our cities as laboratories for their innovations.
The rise of superstar companies that dominate their industries may be partly to blame for the lack of wage growth in the US in recent years. It could also suggest a solution.
Canada is simply a consumer of ride-hailing services, and has not established any of its own Ubers or Lyfts, even as tiny countries like Estonia get in on the game. That needs to change.
More people are choosing to work in shared spaces, and there are many benefits of this to the local economy, as well as downsides. Local governments should work with both.