WHO (01.10.2019) On the International Day of Older Persons – 1 October – the World Health Organization (WHO) is launching  a package of tools, including a digital application to help health and social workers provide better care for older people.The innovative interactive digital application known as WHO ICOPE Handbook App provides practical guidance to address priority conditions including mobility limitations, malnutrition, vision and hearing loss, cognitive decline, depressive sy

ECNS /18.09.2019) China officially kicked off a national online platform for social insurance on Sunday after a month-long test, allowing residents to process data much more easily, sometimes with the aid of facial recognition technology.

The New York Times (15.09.2019) Companies like Uber are hitting the turbulence of government regulation, worker resistance and labor market reality.

EuroWHO (September 2019) This issue of Eurohealth provides interesting oversight of the key issues surrounding the digitalization of health systems and how together, we can leverage the benefits of digital health.

socialeurope (04.09.2019) While many were enjoying the summer break, Spanish courts were busily setting an example for the social protection of platform workers. Three recent judgments confirmed that Deliveroo ‘riders’ have in fact an employment relationship with the platform and should be considered as workers, not self-employed.

France Inter (12.08.2019) Tandis que la grogne ne cesse de monter chez les livreurs de Deliveroo, la plateforme britannique de livraison de repas à domicile, dénonçant la baisse de leur salaire, Le téléphone sonne braque le guidon vers ces travailleurs de la nouvelle économie.

socialeurope (01.08.2019) To focus on online platforms in isolation would miss the point that they are part of a wider phenomenon of spreading and intensifying precarity at work.

ILO report (Sept 2018) The report offers one of the first comparative studies of working conditions at five of the major, global, online micro-task platforms

healtheuropa (23.07.2019)Introducing the new Digital Care Act (Digitale-Versorgung-Gesetz), which is now a part of Germany’s efforts to expand the digitisation of the German healthcare system.

Euronews (24.07.2019) Couriers working for online food delivery group Deliveroo are company employees not just freelancers, a Madrid court ruled on Tuesday. This means that workers will now be able to ask Deliveroo for a formal contract and corresponding benefits.

Search and navigate 277 online digital platforms across 8 countries. This interactive database provides a rare insight into the rise of African digital platforms and how they are connecting consumers and providers across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Use this tool to navigate through various attributes of digital platforms, including the types of products and services offered, and the types of payment methods allowed, on each platform.

African digital platforms are giving rise to new financial needs; creating and bridging barriers to financial and economic inclusion; and revolutionising the informal economic activities of merchants and individuals.

Early findings from our African digital platforms and the future of financial services research An increasingly digital and connected Africa is providing new ways for entrepreneurs and consumers to participate in the economy.

Research ICT Africa conducts  multidisciplinary research on digital governance, policy and regulation that facilitates evidence-based and informed policy making for improved access, use and application of digital technologies for social and economic development in Africa.

SMART Africa is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State and Government to accelerate sustainable socioeconomic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable access to Broadband and usage of Information and Communications Technologies.

The Transform Africa Summit is the Smart Africa flagship event. Following four successful editions, the fifth Summit will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 14 – 17 May 2019. Under the theme “Boosting Africa’s Digital Economy”, the Summit is expected to attract over 4,000 participants, including Heads of State and Government, First Ladies, UN Broadband Commissioners, Ministers, Regulators, Mayors & Governors, Public & Private Sector, International Organizations, Industry Leaders, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Young Innovators, Civil Society and Academia.

En quatre ans, la plateforme vaudoise Batmaid s'est taillé la part du lion dans le marché des ménages privés. Mais le syndicat Unia s'apprête à dénoncer l'entreprise aux autorités pour les conditions de travail des 1700 nettoyeuses qu'elle a recrutées. Depuis son lancement en 2015, Batmaid a connu un développement fulgurant. Aujourd'hui, la société compte 50 employés et fait travailler près de 1700 nettoyeuses, sorties du travail au noir, auprès de 10'000 clients.

La start-up Batmaid, qui propose les services de femmes de ménage, a été fondée par deux entrepreneurs lausannois. Elle est présente au sommet sur les nouvelles technologies Web Summit à Lisbonne.

The central concern that runs through The Technology Trap is that, unless we are very careful, our latest technological revolution may well turn out to be a tumultuous rerun of the Industrial Revolution, with dire social and political consequences.

The French parliament approved a law on Thursday that would make France the first major economy to impose a tax on internet heavyweights.

The UK vowed to press ahead with its plans for a special tax on large technology companies on Thursday, hours after the US threatened to impose trade sanctions on France for similar action.

World Economic Forum (17.06.2019) By introducing portable benefits for gig workers, African governments and digital platforms can help to power the continent’s future growth. Otherwise, these platforms will lose top talent, countries will miss out on potential tax revenue, and Africa will fail to reap the full benefits of the digital revolution.

Le constat est alarmant dans le monde du travail. La pénurie de travail et la stigmatisation à l’embauche offrent un boulevard aux plates-formes américaines pour recruter. Ce modèle, si on peut le qualifier ainsi, fragilise ces nouveaux embauchés et produit encore plus de précarité avec l’absence de protection sociale.  Dénoncer ces méthodes est bien là l’essentiel, car il s’agit en effet d’une vraie cause, d’un combat pour la préservation de notre modèle social unique au monde.

Personnel Today (28.06.2019) One in 10 working-age adults in the UK work on gig economy platforms, double the number who did so in 2016, according to a study by the University of Hertfordshire and the TUC.

vox.com (30.05.2019) The state Assembly just passed a bill that could give Uber and Lyft drivers basic labor protections for the first time.