Text reading 'data coops' repeated in orange and blue

Introducing the new Data Cooperatives Working Group – in collaboration with Aapti Institute

At ODM, we’re very interested in understanding how best to help people get control of their data – and since 2014 – we’ve been exploring the century-old idea of a cooperative, rebooted for the 21st century, in the form of data cooperatives.

In April 2021, we hosted an event called How to Build a Data Cooperative with some of the leading thinkers in this area – and where we shared our research paper based on a project that looked at some of the mechanisms for designing such an organisation. You can find out more and watch back here.

Our CEO Julian Tait has just penned a new white paper on this topic for Indian research institution Aapti Institute – The Case for Data Cooperatives – where he says:

“We need trustworthy organisations to help us take greater control of our data, allowing people to make real choices about how it is used, and to build trust and confidence in good data practices and the solutions derived from them…

“Data needs stewardship and data cooperatives must have a role in this – because they build on tried and tested means for people to come together to cooperate when faced with common challenges.

“While the paper provides an idea of the issues related to their development, identified through several research projects, this is the beginning, rather than the end, of the story.”

Right now, we still have more questions on the model, and so in the spirit of cooperation, on 15 September, with Aapti Institute, we’ll be bringing together people and organisations who are keen to work out exactly how this data stewardship model works in practice for the first meeting of the Data Cooperatives Working Group.

If this sounds like you, drop us an email to get your name on the list, otherwise, keep an eye out for future developments.