Giving the Power of Data Back to Rideshare Drivers

What happens when workers themselves lead innovation and build technologies that improve their work and working conditions? That’s the idea behind Driver’s Seat Cooperative. Through the cooperative’s app, rideshare and delivery drivers share data and use that information to optimize their earnings and advocate for themselves. In a conversation about how technology can be used responsibly to empower workers, Hays Witt, cofounder and CEO of Driver's Seat Cooperative, Kaiton Williams of Impact America Fund, and Nicole Moore, founding member of Rideshare Drivers United, discuss how we can center workers when designing new technologies and what’s next in the movement to democratize data in the gig economy.

This panel was part of SSIR’s 2023 Data on Purpose Conference: Making Tech Work for Workers, presented in partnership with the Ford Foundation.

To see the rest of the conference and discussions with experts and workers, register here. Other session topics included: Generative AI, bossware and worker surveillance, philanthropic investment in digital innovation, the gig economy, protecting workers, and more.