Modern Markets for All: How a Government Utility Could Revolutionize Gig Work

Wingham Rowan has long been a leader in forecasting the interactions between technology and society. For instance, he created, produced, and presented cyber.cafe, Britain’s longest running TV series about the internet. He also was a presenter on his own program for children, Rowan’s Report. More recently, however, Mr. Rowan has been studying the future of labor and how technology can improve the unpredictable nature of the gig economy. He leads Britain’s Beyond Jobs Project and the international nonprofit, Modern Markets for All. His big ideas about Public Official E-Markets, or POEMs, have been implemented recently in Long Beach, CA to great success.

At its root, POEMs are an effort to bridge the unequal gap between markets used by the upper and lower ends of the economy. Specifically, there are millions of “irregular” workers who cannot work traditionally scheduled hours. These people need jobs, and they can provide valuable labor to businesses. Mr. Rowan believes that everyday workers and small businesses should have access to smart markets, where they can find each other in a way that helps everyone. If the private sector won’t share the ones they use, though, the public sector has an opportunity to step in.

Would it be possible for governments, whether local, state, or national, to establish a system of online labor markets as a public utility? It’s a revolutionary idea. When pitching it, Mr. Rowan often receives pushback, including from us. We dig into the specifics of the system, interrogating where it could have problems and trying to find where its potential could be maximized. POEMs is no “silver bullet solution,” but through our conversation it’s clear that the plan, if properly implemented, can lead to serious positive social good.

Mr. Rowan is driven by a singular mission: to create better markets for gig work, allowing workers and businesses to unlock their entire economic potential. Instead of being at the mercy of an employer’s scheduling, irregular workers can take control and sell their own time through POEMs. Our conversation with him tackles many aspects of the POEMs plan, its possible pitfalls, and the ways it can solve inequality through public policy.

Wingham Rowan