This study will aim to trace the current landscape of P2P-based platforms in Uruguay, with a special focus on the regulatory framework under which these platforms were developed. It will shed light on the existent gap between the current regulatory framework and business practice in the rapidly advancing fin-tech sector and understand if and how P2P lending practices are able to address the needs of low income groups, start-up entrepreneurs and SMEs.

Digital travel platforms, such as tripadvisor.com, have in many ways disrupted the travel industry. These platforms are intended to facilitate travelers’ experiences, by collecting and distributing information so that travelers can find hotels, attractions and businesses according to specific locations and their preferences. However, by focusing on the travelers’ needs and preferences, the capitalist economic dimensions of travel are emphasised at the expense of social inclusion and human development concerns. In places where severe social, economic inequality and informality prevail, travel platforms’ monopoly on information and access to customers risks further disadvantaging small businesses and exploiting marginalized workers. Gendered dimensions of travel, such traditional roles and responsibilities, or cultural symbolism may also trap individuals into perpetuating gender inequalities when there is a clear touristic demand popularised through travel platforms. Our project investigates social inclusion policy for the platform economy within the travel sector in Indonesia in three ways. First, we explore whether and how workers in the travel sector, local businesses, and alternative tourism models and services (co-operatively owned, eco-tourism, etc.) are affected by the increasing influence of the platform economy. Second, we investigate the spatial, territorial and cultural implications of travel platforms. Third, we uncover the ways in which gender roles and biases are challenged and/or reproduced through inclusion or exclusion in the platform economy within the travel sector. We will conduct four in-depth case studies across Indonesia’s archipelago, incorporating participatory interviews, territorial mapping, and ethnographic participant observation. Our research will contribute key social inclusion policy recommendations for both local governance and international advocacy.

This study will examine policy frameworks pertaining to data collection, analysis, and sharing, and thus the core of the business model of online platforms. It will focus on the United Kingdom as a jurisdiction where new laws – the Investigatory Powers Act (2016) and the Digital Economy Act (2017) – have changed the regulatory environment for platforms and are likely to influence policy development in other countries. Further, it will incorporate the regional context of the European Union where a significant and potentially transformative new policy – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – will come into effect next year.

This study will seek to investigate the nature, operational logistics and labour relations dynamics of taxi hailing platforms in South Africa in the context of the taxi wars of South Africa. It will examine and analyze the institutional-legal context in which taxi hailing platforms operate vis a vi traditional transportation services with a view of recommending policy frameworks that tackle inequality, promote inclusion and advance development justice in the global South.

This study will focus on the current gaps of protection affecting the participants in the platform economy. It will address this legal issue by investigating the power relationships between the platform and its users (both professional and not) and exposing the information asymmetries and economic imbalance via an empirical analysis of the platforms Terms and Privacy policies, in correlation with their business models. The study will look at the European consumer protection and labour law relevant aspects through an examination of ride-sharing, gig work and accommodation platforms in Belgium, France and Italy.

This study seeks to examine how the agricultural sector in India is being reorganized as a result of platformization in various domains – agricultural inputs, financial services, supply chain management and grocery e-tail to understand the impact such platformization is having/ likely to have for the livelihoods of small producers and traders. The interest in understanding the platformization of the agricultural industry has been largely focused on the tech and innovation side of things, with the ‘novelty’ of a given platform or its game changing performance and growth, often being the starting point to situate the axis of social and economic disruption.