Disruption is often greeted with a lot of opposition and harsh regulation. Doing so curbs enthusiasm and innovation at an early stage, and companies such as Uber and Airbnb are not making too many friends among governments and councils. But ten different cities around the world are actively collaborating with these companies for a proper regulatory framework.
Collaboration Is Key For The Sharing Economy
It is positive to see cities and governments keeping an open mind towards the sharing economy. Too strict regulation is not doing anyone any favors, and will only set a dangerous precedent that shows an unwillingness to innovate. Uber and Airbnb have turned the ride-hailing and hotel business on their respective heads and face a lot of opposition for doing so.
But a new coalition of ten cities around the world wants to show how things can be done differently. Albeit the goal is till to provide a basic regulatory framework, this initiative will keep an open mind towards innovation and collaboration. Providing a streamlined set of rules is beneficial to both the companies and its users, though.
In this day and age, the approach of “innovate first and worry about regulation later” is not always a viable business model. Airbnb and Uber have not been hindered by regulation when they launched their services, as there were no specific guidelines for the sharing economy. But that has come to change, and not in a good way.
To put this into perspective, Airbnb has been blocked from advertising specific apartments in Berlin and New York City. Uber is facing a lot of scrutiny from just about every city in the world, as taxi drivers take offense at how company drivers do not need to obtain specific licenses or take a test.
No information was made publicly available at the time of writing as to how this set of guidelines will be created. The process is taking place behind closed doors, and we do know Paris, New York, Athens, Toronto, and Barcelona are involved. If all things to according to plan, a draft version should be ready by October of 2016.
Source: Engadget
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