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What technologies should cooperatives use and promote? We want to have criteria that take both the needs of cooperatives and their values into account. We propose combining the choice based on functionality (good tools to do a good job) with the fact that they are free technologies, shared and/or provided by cooperatives, solidarity economy entities or local companies.
This year at femProcomuns, we have set out to better explain and delve deeper into the techno-ethical criteria we use when working with or providing technology. We want to set the right course. In 2023, as part of a study we conducted on behalf of the Federation of Worker Cooperatives of Catalonia (together with Colectic, Coopdevs and the UOC), we considered which technologies were appropriate for cooperativism.
We then identified four pillars: free, shared, local provided by cooperatives and locally. We believe it is useful, both internally and externally, to revisit the arguments we used to choose these pillars. To a large extent, the cooperative movement and the solidarity economy in Catalonia (cooperative federations, XES, cooperative cultural associations, local cooperative ecosystems, XMESS) already promote technologies based on these criteria, but we believe it may be useful to structure the arguments and make a more explicit commitment.
Technologies appropriate to cooperative values
In accordance with cooperative values, the most appropriate technologies are those that provide us with the functionalities we are looking for and, at the same time, are free, shared technologies provided by cooperatives or entities in the solidarity and local economy.
It is particularly advisable to avoid, as far as possible, providers that commercialise our data and technologies that make us dependent on large corporations of surveillance capitalism, which accumulate profit and power.
Why free technologies?
- Free technologies can be appropriate from a cooperative perspective, they do not create dependency on a single provider, and they can be improved with the functionalities that are needed, which are not always those that commercial companies prioritise.
- Free technologies guarantee access to the code, not only to modify it but also to know what it does. For example, they allow security audits to be carried out.
- The development of free technologies is usually open, in code repositories where contributions can be made, and around which communities of programmers and users are generated. This form of production is in line with the principles of cooperation, collaboration and distributed reciprocity.
+ More on why to choose free technologies
Why shared technologies?
- Addressing needs jointly is the cooperative way of tackling challenges. Collectively, we find solutions that would otherwise be impossible or more costly.
- Pooling also means sharing governance, pooling resources and creating community.
- Pooling facilitates learning and knowledge sharing, allows us to learn from each other’s experiences, and facilitates mutual support and assistance.
- There are several ways to pool technological tools and infrastructure. This can be done through consumer or service cooperatives, second-degree cooperatives, associations or federations, and also through agreements signed between the parties involved in the pooling.
Why technologies provided by cooperatives and solidarity economy entities?
- It is important that there are cooperatives and solidarity economy entities with experience in supplying technologies, including their administration, implementation and development. This strengthens us and gives us autonomy as a cooperative movement and makes it possible for technological decisions not to be based on a socio-economic model, focused on competition and maximising private profit.
- The fact that cooperatives and solidarity economy entities are both users and suppliers increases their ability to influence technological development.
- The fact that cooperatives choose other cooperatives, joint cooperative projects or solidarity economy entities to supply themselves economically strengthens these entities, their sustainability and solvency, and their capacity to make improvements and scale up projects.
Why is it necessary to provide technologies locally?
- Many digital technologies are not location-dependent; they are provided via the internet and even their linguistic and cultural adaptation is handled by distributed development communities. Even so, local supply is an ideal channel for this adaptation to be taken into account: if the supplier shares the same context as the user, they may be better able to convey their needs.
- Furthermore, widespread local sourcing ensures globally distributed sourcing and that experience, skills and knowledge are distributed geographically. This helps to avoid the effect that is occurring in technological capitalism, which concentrates resources, knowledge, and technological decisions in certain states and regions.
See also
femProcomuns is a comprehensive, non-profit consumer and worker cooperative and social initiative created in 2017 with the aim of being a strategic social tool to facilitate the viability and sustainability of open initiatives, with free technology and knowledge, oriented towards the commons socio-economic model.
In the technological field, with CommonsCloud we provide ourselves and our partner organisations with digital tools in the cloud using free software under ethical criteria. with the Open Internet of Things Network, we collaborate with local councils, organisations and The Things Network Catalunya community to deploy antennas with the LoraWAN protocol that receive data from sensors, while also working on its application; with Transitant, we create methodologies, facilitate processes and support collective projects, some of which also have a technological component. From the outset, our commitment to free technologies has been very firm and we have also applied ethical criteria in the choice of technologies and their implementation, but we want to deepen and systematise them. In Catalonia, there are other projects that bring together people and entities to pool technologies. While at femProcomuns we do this through cooperativism, there are initiatives that do so through federative associations, such as the pioneering Pangea and SinergiaIT. There are also a significant number of worker cooperatives that provide and/or develop free technologies, such as Jamgo, bTactic, Colectic, Coopdevs, Kedu, Códec and Human CTA. And the consumer cooperatives SomConnexió and SomMobiltat have created a second-degree cooperative, SomIT, which provides and develops free technology tailored to their needs.
This entire ecosystem is a strength that we have as a society, one that is becoming more consolidated and that makes it possible to apply these criteria. Cooperatives do not need to become dependent on multinationals that use them to extract value, accumulate profit and power. There is no need to submit, really, there is no need 🙂
. We want to focus our direction. We are in the process of strengthening arguments around ethical technologies and deepening our criteria. We are looking for manifestos, protocols, certifications, studies… We want to share this research and its results. If you have information that you think may be of interest to us or if you want to stay up to date with what we are doing in this area, please write to us transitant@femprocomuns.coop