4.2.2. European Innovation Foundation for the Common Good

Instead of waiting for Silicon Valley to be in charge of technological breakthroughs for private gain, Europe should invest in shaping technological breakthroughs for the common good. This organisation shall envision, coordinate and conduct research and innovation into technologies for the common good, for democratic governance and ownership of technologies. It will be governed by the European parliament and European citizen assemblies. It will have the political mandate to foster innovation for the common good, such as achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other principles for the common good as agreed in the EU.

The foundation may only invest in projects that are based on democratic ownership and governance. Its success is measured not in patents, economic growth or other commercial indicators but by the increase in quality of life of present and future generations. We propose several initial focus areas:

  • Labour Intelligence: An institute for innovation in automatic decision making in cooperation with workers, which shall explore and prototype intelligent systems with various axes of worker control (i.e. ranging from 'systems designed along worker-friendly principles' to 'responsive to real-time worker input' to 'explicitly incorporating cooperative decision mechanisms for key decisions').
    • It shall partner with existing organisations, in particular cooperatives (platform and otherwise), to apply and test systems under real-world conditions.
    • It shall assess outcomes with particular attention to humanistic goals, quality of life and environmental sustainability, and worker-centered perspectives, emphasising the dignity and autonomy of workers.
    • It shall require particular attention to barriers faced by marginalised workers and workers from traditionally excluded backgrounds.
  • Technology for Democratic Processes: An institute to explore how technological tools can support democratic processes and citizen participation, for example assessing the potential of various digital voting platforms.
  • Sustainable Technologies: An institute for innovation around sustainable and widely accessible technologies for a fast and just ecological transformation.