Stakeholders in the reuse and collaborative consumption sectors attended an event on Friday (28 November) to discuss how to accelerate the sharing economy.

The ‘sharing economy’, sometimes also called ‘collaborative consumption’, is an umbrella term for economic arrangements in which participants share access to goods or services, rather than having individual ownership. It includes ‘redistribution networks’, through which goods are passed from those that don’t want them to those that do (as with eBay, Gumtree and Freecycle); ‘collaborative lifestyles’, the sharing of resources like workspace, living space, and so on (as with Couchsurfing and House Swapping); and ‘product service systems’, through which people can benefit from products without owning them (as with traditional libraries and modern car sharing and bike hiring schemes). It has been in the spotlight recently, with a government-commissioned report, ‘Unlocking the sharing economy’, released last week (26 November).

The SHARE:Summit, a ‘community-powered event’ connecting stakeholders from all sectors of the sharing economy, saw 200 delegates from across business, government, and non-profit organisations come together to debate how best to progress collaborative consumption and move away from a make-use-dispose consumption model.

‘Everything you have ever wanted to know about the sharing economy’

Held at One Canda Square in Canary Wharf, the event was hosted by Benita Matofska (pictured, right), Chief Sharer from compareandshare.com, who also led the keynote speech: ‘Everything you have ever wanted to know about the Sharing Economy…But were too afraid to ask!’

The crowd-sourced opening keynote set the tone for an afternoon of networking and information sharing that revealed how the development of digital technology is enabling hitherto unviable enterprises to thrive, creating the opportunity for sustainable economic growth as people find ways to use assets more efficiently.

Matofska touched on how her website, known as the Go Compare of the sharing world, sees a wide range of collaborative consumption activities taking place – from rooms being let and cars being shared, laundry getting collected and delivered, and car lifts being offered and paid for.

Following the speech, Matofska chaired a panel discussion about what the main challenges and opportunities are for growing the sharing economy.

On the panel was Robert Vaughn, consultant on Strategy & Economics at PricewaterhouseCoopers;
Daniel Benamran, UK Country Manager for BlablaCar;
Alex Stephany, Chief Executive of JustPark
; and Ian Cruickshank, Chief Marketing Officer at RateSetter.

Attendees heard that the sharing economy isn’t just a European or American phenomenon – with studies indicating that 68 per cent of participants are in Asia – nor is it a marginal one, with 300 million people taking part worldwide in a recent ‘sharing day’. Sharing is growing, the panel argued, future-proofing businesses that are far-sighted enough to engage in it. Indeed, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the sharing economy will increase from its current £9 billion global GDP contribution to over £230 billion by 2025.

Safety in swapping

There was much talk of the need for trust to further the sharing economy, as the second panel (comprising Patrick Robinson, Head of Public Policy for Airbnb in the UK & Canada; Alex Depledge, Chief Executive of Hassle.com; and
Paul Massey, General Counsel at Crowdcube; and Chaired by Michaela Costello from ResPublica) highlighted that people using some home-sharing sites – such as Airbnb – would not want to risk swapping their house with those they’d never met without some sort of identity check. Indeed, the event was part-sponsored by the GBGroup, which performs identity checks on individuals and businesses for businesses wishing to eliminate risk in this area.

The panel also discussed how government and entrepreneurs could collaborate to create progressive frameworks to unlock the full potential of this emerging economy, and touched on the recent government-commissioned report on collaborative consumption, ‘Unlocking the sharing economy’. There was great interest in the possibility or desirability of regulation to create standards that are equivalent to standards required in what could be seen as competitive business sectors (hotels, for instance, versus Airbnb). Whilst recognising that this is perhaps inevitable, several speakers were careful to insist that a lot of the developments in the sharing economy rely on individual voluntarism and the energy that comes from the “good feeling”, which they contrasted with the “negative feelings” associated with the modern-day business models’ focus.

Crowd funding for new and ‘quirky’ ventures

Finally, the finance and funding of sharing start-ups was on show. Participants were urged to consider crowd-funding as a perfectly viable and legitimate method of getting their newest ideas and new businesses off the ground. Some argued that this funding method is a healthy departure from the methodology employed by banks, as this can be quite judgemental and go against the favour of new, or ‘quirky’ ventures.

In conclusion, delegates outlined that although the sharing economy currently only comprises three per cent of the global economic activity, and is yet to threaten the incomes of those with all the economic power, it is growing exponentially every day and could soon become the new-norm.

Find out more about the SHARE:Summit or the ‘Unlocking the Sharing Economy’ report.