There is a big momentum gathering behind the sharing economy theme. The sharing economy is the way to engage households, individuals and their idle resources in collaborative production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, via on-line platforms and mobile applications.
Among the most publicised examples worldwide are Airbnb (accommodation sharing), Zipcar (car sharing) and Taskrabbit (personal services). Typically, the sharing platform sites are set up to serve a particular city or region, with more successful ones being able to expand across multiple cities and countries. Most sharing platforms, however, are struggling to scale. This could be due to the intrinsic characteristics of the sharing platform itself related to its ability to build trust, or to manage resources in order to achieve critical mass of users. This could also be due to the deep socio-spatial embeddedness of some sharing platforms, which might make it difficult to expand in different contexts and across different locations.
The overarching aim of the project is to develop a typology of different models and mechanisms of scaling up in the sharing economy. More specifically it will identify:
The project advances the current knowledge base on social innovation in general and digital sharing platforms in particular, both conceptually and at an applied level.
The project will help to expand the innovative capacity of businesses, public and third sector organisations, regulators, investors, entrepreneurs, households and individual citizens, by shedding light on the emerging socially innovative business models empowered by new digital technologies.
The project covers three sectors of the sharing economy in the UK:
If you run a sharing economy business in one of those sectors and would like to share your views with us, please contact us.
We would also appreciate opinions of other stakeholders engaged with the sharing economy.
Conferences and events associated with this project: