A global workforce of human labour is necessary for the development and maintenance of many of today’s tech products, services, and automations. Alongside work like driving cabs, providing at-home services, and delivering parcels, tech companies need human beings for roles like preparing training data and moderating user-generated content on platforms. Elaborate and vaunted tech relies heavily on human workers, but frequently sources this labour through precarious work environments across the world.

Aapti Institute is delighted to announce its partnership with Sigla Research Center and Tech Global Institute to form the Alliance for Tech Labour across the South (ATLAS), a research initiative focusing on digital labour in Asia. The Global Majority hosts much of the Global North’s outsourcing operations, where tech firms source data and labour without being directly or wholly accountable for working conditions. Asia, with its substantial outsourcing ecosystem, is a key site of organising, advocacy, and research. In this context, it is vital that research players engage with labour stakeholders and grassroots movements for platform work, tech outsourcing, and digital work.

ATLAS will explore tech labour sectors like data work and content moderation, and assist labour undertakings and movements with research, tools, and ideas that can bolster and support their initiatives. By working together, we hope to build common strategies and pursue pathways of accountability and labour policy that is inclusive, robust, and emphasises participation. Stay tuned to Aapti, TGI, and Sigla’s social media for more information on our upcoming work and events!

For inquiries and conversations, please write to us via [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].