# Tools infrastructure for making the new economy https://notepad.diglife.coop/s/rk3LqJrhU# *Mike Hales : 02jun2020 : Draft : Not final* Open2020 conference, 11/12jun2020 A design for 2x90min online sessions hosted in BigBlueButton by the Online Meeting Cooperative >There's a lot of activity here. It might needs to be trimmed? # Overview These two sessions address common infrastructure of digital tools, for movement organisations, making the new economy. The direct aim of the sessions is to arrive at choices of infrastructure for the *working groups of OpenCoop*. **Day 1 - Tools of collaboration** - In breakouts, this first session examines **use cases**, in various sectors of new-economy practice. **Fragmentation** of new-economy activism is a core issue to be engaged. The session engages the core question: just what kind(s) of common infrastructure may help join things up, build bigger, more capable movements and collaborations, with greater new-economy, next-system scope? **Day 2 - Tool commons, governance and stewarding** - This second session addresses governance and stewarding in **commons of digital tools**. 'Commoning' is adopted as a frame that necessarily engages **dual power** and transition to an economy that is **radically 'new'**. The session reviews a number of established forms of governance for distributed resources on the web. A panel contributes experience of 'tools' organisations under various forms of governance. In breakouts, participants review the kind of relationship they would want to have with **a commons of digital tools**. **Outcomes** - The second session assesses the choice of a tools platform for OpenCoop working groups, and **makes choices** that seem clear. Aspects remaining unclear will be delegated to a **team**, to bring a further proposal to a vote in OpenCoop Loomio. The second session also considers the approach to stewarding of a commons that might be adopted by the Online Meeting Coop (hosting this conference) as a newly forming **movement-oriented tools platform**. After conference close, threads in OpenCoop Loomio will continue to **assemble contributions** on issues and actions from both sessions. # Storyboard, day1 - Tools of collaboration #### 0 Context * Briefly, the back-story on 'digital infrastructure' for activists - x3 * OpenCoop history - Commonscloud, collective.tools, meet.coop * Immediate aim of these two sessions - to **arrive at choices** of digital infrastructure that will be used for **ongoing collaboration** by the working groups of OpenCoop. * Outline of this session - 1/2/3/4 below. #### 1 Intro - Making a new economy, beyond fragments Outline three interweaving perspectives . . * Beyond the state, the market and the consumerist household. * Beyond movement fragmentation - activist 'silos', pluralist-mutualist orientation, a skilful 'dance' of collaboration. * Beyond extractive economy, to wellbeing for grandchildren's grandchildren and Planet, in each succeeding generation. What kind of digital infrastructure can help movements engage and organise across all three commitments? In a sense, there seem to be too many tools out there. In this session we start not from a fixation with 'getting the suites of tools out into the storefront', but from the activist **work** that folks are needing to do, in movements and organisations. Then we approach the question: 'What tools can help build movement **infrastructure, organisation and capability**'? #### 2 Breakouts - Work being done by movements in making a new economy Outline two components as a frame for breakouts . . * **Kinds of activist commitment**, contributing to making a new economy. Not a typology just a simple scheme of *half a dozen 'sectors'* of activism and commitment, for purposes of focusing today's discussion. This is a way of flattening-out a complex web or weave of plural forms of action, in many economic and cultural modes. > Each category = a breakout group > (plus a group for undecided/confused or unsatisfied with the offered categories!) * **Classes of tools.** The DisCO framework of tools for coops ('the stack'), which includes a triad of basic channels for collaborative group practice. >Breakout groups identify tools they use in their activist mode, in terms of this general scheme. They also note 'extras' or tools that seem to be sector-local requirements (these constitute 'the deck' in that sector, as distinct from 'the stack'). #### 3 Gathering - Tools in 'sectors' Emergent insights from breakouts, on tool requirements and uses. #### 4 Wrap up Preview of tomorrow's session Intentions for tomorrow's session >**Also - Personal 'operating system' - A survey** >*At some point in the session (prior to session?) invite participants to complete a survey, to record their personal 'operating system' of digital means (operating systems, browsers, messaging apps, etc). Provides a baseline for thinking about access to web-based tools across this community.* # Storyboard, day2 - A new platform coop for collaborative tools Previously called - *Tool commons, governance and stewarding* #### 0 Context * Yesterday * Overall aim * Outline of this session - 1/2/3/4/5 below. #### 1 Contributing in commons Outline of four established modes of governance & stewarding for distributed resources on the web. * A classic **FLOSS/P2P model** - Ethical peer-to-peer producers, assembling a storefront/portal of free-libre open source software (floss) apps - effectively a market of free, pro-bono goods of variable quality. Free-libre production overlaid with 'free beer' consumption? * A classic **consumer coop model** - Coop principles and values. Membership as formal ownership. Annual general meetings, voting rights. * A **'movement organisation'** long-haul model - Formal membership? Oriented to resistance, a vision of **dual power** and the **direct hands-on making** of society, culture, economy. Constituent assemblies? 'Higher' assemblies (greater scale, longer-reach) serving 'lower' assemblies (feet on the ground, on-the-patch), full recall of delegates. * A full fledged **commons model** - Distributed commoners of a distributed commons - all participating in curating, stewarding and enjoying the commons. Beyond the state, capitalist market, consumerist household . . opposed by a fabric of 'mutual sector', interweaving, collaborating peer associations. **Stewarding for the grandchildren** thro commons-of-commons. The first of these has the strongest presence in the digital tools world right now? What direction do we need to move in? #### 2 Governance in movement organisations - A panel A panel contributes experience of ‘tools’ organisations under various forms of governance, in a range of civil-society organisational settings. >Each panellist briefly offers responses to the outline above, based on their movement experience. #### 3 Stewarding in a commons of digital means - Breakouts What do we make of these models, and ways they could be applied to a commons of digital tools? How much do we care about this, in what way does it matter? >In breakouts, participants review the kind of relationship they would want to have with a commons of digital tools. Ending with a straw poll. - **A 'free beer' stall** for chef's-choice dishes? a food bank? Is this just charitable giving blended with consumerism? If infrastructure matters, is this individualism good enough? - An **annual assembly** of eligible, registered, paid-up voting members, mass meetings and ‘gatherings’, ballots? A committee structure, national and international congresses. AN Other consumer coop? A utility? - Commoners in self-organising **‘circles’** directly handling operational realities (the ‘care work’ of the commons), **multistakeholder governance** (contributors, funders, and beneficiaries, all combined in steering and animating the commons)? A coop-of-coops, a federation of **membership organisations**? A commons-of-commons? A bit out of the ordinary. Do users want to be this involved? Or do they just want the light to come on when they flip the switch? >A quick straw poll on this. #### 4 OpenCoop working groups - Tools? Platform? * Is there a clear choice that can be made about core tools? * Is there a clear platform that meets the expectations expressed in breakouts? >Responses - from OpenCoop working groups. Contributions/questions from the floor. * Is there a possibility that this discussion might contribute to the development of meet.coop as a platform **commons** (not just a platform coop)? >Responses - from [The Online Meeting Cooperative](https://www.org.meet.coop/) - [meet.coop wiki](https://wiki.meet.coop/wiki/Main_Page ) #### 5 Wrap up * Review findings - **tools** required for making the new commons economy * Review findings - **platforms** that give common access to tools >Oli SB to do these summaries? * Do we have a conclusion, or do we need **a team** to do some spadework and prepare a vote? * **Timeframe** for the team >A live poll on these questions. >Continuing contributions and feedback on actions, in OpenCoop Loomio, one thread for each session: *Tools and new-economy work* and *Stewarding tool commons*. * Matters arising, for the **conference final session** later today. >Oli SB?