The sharing economy is here to stay. This was the idea transmitted in 'The sharing economy in a digital environment' seminar organised by the Faculty within the framework of aid provided by the Aracoop project to promote the social economy and the cooperative movement at UIC Barcelona. Due to the health emergency situation, the event took place online and was shared beyond the university community itself.

Various experts participated in the session and they brought different experiences to the table of a concept that frequently recurs in today’s economy: the sharing economy. Assistant Professor Mareike Möhlmann from Warwick University presented her latest article, published in the Harvard Business Review: What people Hate About Being Managed by Algorithms, According to a Study of Uber Drivers, in which she analysed the business issue Uber faces in terms of preventing its drivers from feeling like "machines". She did so while considering the fact that the drivers’ work is mainly managed using computer algorithms.

On the other hand, Edoardo Chiarotti, a researcher from the Graduate Institute of Geneva, talked about the Chinese company AliExpress and the key concepts that have turned it into the giant it is today. Also, Burçin Güçlü, a lecturer from La Salle- Ramon Llull University, described the case of Airbnb, and highlighted the characteristics that make a city more attractive than others for platform users.  Finally, two models were presented to evaluate the quality of sharing economy services in the transport sector and the hospitality industry, by Serena Spina, a lecturer from the Polytechnic University of Turin, and UIC Barcelona lecturer Natalia Amat.