Uberization: A Platform Economy

The global economy is changing. Time is worth more than capital. Today there is research, creativity, and innovation. This new type of economy buys time (Uber), conversation (Blablacar), personalized accommodation (Airbnb). Perhaps you are familiar with the theory of a taxi driver: "The less I work, the more I increase my prices. The more I increase my prices, the less I work."

The term "uberization" comes from the name of the California-based company Uber, which provides urban automobile transport services. The success of Uber, the application that turned the ultra-regulated taxi industry upside down, generated the neologism "uberization" of society. It is defined as: "the questioning of the economic model of a company or a sector of activity by the arrival of a new actor offering the same services at lower prices, carried out by independents rather than employees, most often via internet reservation platforms ".

This recent phenomenon in the field of the economy allows professionals and clients to make direct contact almost instantaneously, thanks to the use of new technologies. It materializes in the form of a digital platform. The idea of ​​uberization is that of "all entrepreneurs." The line between professional workers and platform collaborators is blurred. Transport, logistics, tourism, personal services, catering, banking and even the sex industry... This new form of activity is rapidly gaining ground in almost all sectors. Thanks to Airbnb, hoteliers without hotels have become the world's leading accommodation providers with more than 1.5 million rooms.

Uberisation has been criticised for its role in facilitating the decline of labour-intensive industries, and hence for threatening the certain jobs in the service industry. However, the "uberized" activities offer more flexibility. Collaboratively, they can foster innovation and open markets to new customers who are offered cheaper and better goods and services. The providers carry out "missions", they are remunerated by the task. We now talk about "income" and "turnover"; but no longer "salary".