Data Dividends?: Rethinking work and the commons in the era of big data

Chris Benner

Director, Everett Program for Technology and Social Change and the Institute for Social Transformation

In his state of the state presentation in January of this year, California Governor Newsom raised the idea that California should implement a data dividend, in which consumers would be paid for all the data they provide that companies monetize.  In this talk, Dr. Benner will discuss this idea, along with his current work exploring the idea of a Universal Technology Dividend. He will explore questions related to the common-property characteristics of technology and innovation, the monopolistic characteristics of information markets, and the need to rethink how we define work in contemporary labor markets.