In a week where taxi drivers around the world went on strike against Uber, and Airbnb announced an anticipated 120,000 visitor stays for the World Cup in Brazil, this post looks at the growing number of “collaborative consumption” startups in Asia and the legal and commercial challenges they will have to overcome to succeed in the region.
What is “collaborative consumption”?
Collaborative consumption (aka “the sharing economy” or “peer to peer”) is a broad term used to describe the shared creation, supply and consumption of goods and services. Typically it involves the use of technology platforms (usually the internet) to link supply and demand, enabling supply-side and demand-side to share resources and capacity in an efficient way.
That’s the concept but it is perhaps best explained by way of example, with reference to arguably the two most disruptive collaborative consumption companies today: Uber and Airbnb. As most readers will be aware, Uber connects passengers with drivers in most major global cities, whilst Airbnb links people with temporary accommodation. If you’ve used either of those services, or any like them, then you’re already part of a new generation of collaborative consumers…
Click here to read the full blog post at ConnectedAsia, and see what is driving collaborative consumption in Asia…
It’s also about the legal and commercial challenges this growth is creating.
Connected Asia is mostly written by Matt Pollins, who’s a lawyer based in Singapore (and originally based in London).Matt is part of the team at Olswang Asia. Olswang is one of the world’s leading tech, media and telecoms law firms with offices in London, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Munich and Singapore and an international network of best friend firms.
If you’re interested in any of the topics discussed here, please do get in touch.
It wouldn’t be a legal blog without a disclaimer. Views expressed on Connected Asia are the author’s own and not those of Olswang or anyone else. Nothing on Connected Asia constitutes legal advice or creates a lawyer-client relationship.
- An opportunity for the Airbnb of Asia? - June 16, 2014
- The convergence of social and e-commerce continues apace in Asia. - February 24, 2014
- Guest blog: The battle for World Cup TV rights isn’t over yet - January 31, 2014