From South Africa, to South Dakota, to Seoul: Empowering Independent Workers Around the World

April Rinne, a new economy advisor and investor who has traveled to 100 countries and worked in half of them, sees the Internet as a great leveler. It lowers barriers to entry, Rinne explains, in terms of applying to jobs, being self-employed, and starting a business. “It’s never been easier to be your own boss,” Rinne says. This plays out in different ways and at different times in various countries around the world, depending on the level of Internet penetration in a particular country, as well as pre-existing regulations and social safety nets. In developing economies, social safety nets often exist in the form of community, rather than as formalized government services. Technology, and platform-based apps in particular, provide an opportunity to formalize sectors of these economies that have traditionally operated informally.

According to Rinne, attitudes to artificial intelligence and automation vary significantly from country to country, depending in part on a population’s demographics and growth rates. In Japan, where the population of 225 million is expected to be cut in half by 2080, “they want as many robots as they can have to continue to function as a society,” Rinne says. This is a vastly different attitude than that of countries with a youth bulge and skyrocketing populations. But there’s at least one commonality that holds true across government officials and other leaders—they want to make sure that AI augments human potential, rather than replacing it.

Rinne discussed recent research and policy recommendations in the independent worker space, including the recently published Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. The report, authored by Royal Society of Arts Chief Executive Matthew Taylor, looks at the future of the workplace in the United Kingdom. It’s the first official report, according to Rinne, to recommend that the government declare a new class of workers: dependent contractors. This proposed category wouldn’t include all independent workers, but rather, would include workers who depend on one or more apps to find work, and don’t set their own rates. One way to stop making workers choose between flexibility and stability, says Rinne, is for platforms to start contributing to benefits pools for these dependent contractors. Such a step wouldn’t necessarily require new legislation, if platforms chose to take on this responsibility as forward-thinking corporate citizens. Another legislation-free proposal Rinne supports is developing a series of measures for cities to test themselves on whether they’re a good place for independent workers to operate. When it comes to the United States, Rinne is most optimistic about policy change and innovation at the local level, and encourages mayors to band together to propose potential solutions at state capitols.