Video of the seminar “AI and Water Justice: Data Centres as Sites of Struggle”, featuring our colleague Nicolas Diaz Bejarano who is working with DiPLab and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on our common project SEED: Social and Environmental Effects of Data connectivity: Hybrid ecologies of transoceanic cables and data centers in Chile and France. Nicolás Diaz Bejarano is an architect (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia), researcher, lecturer and PhD candidate in Architecture, Design and Urban Studies at UC Chile. Currently, Nicolas is a doctoral researcher at the Millennium Nucleus: Future of Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR), where he studies hyperscale data centers exploring how society intertwines with digital data matter in local territories. In 2023, Nicolas won the CCA “Architecture as Public concern” 2023 fellowship with Marina Otero Verzier and Serena Dambrosio for exploring environmental justice of data centers in Quilicura, Chile. In 2025, he was co-curator of the Chilean Pavilion – Reflective Intelligences – at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale with Linda Schilling and Serena Dambrosio and a member of the ECOS-ANID collaboration project SEED: Social and Environmental Effects of Data connectivity: Hybrid ecologies of transoceanic cables and data centers in Chile and France.

We are delighted to share that Dr. Lucas Souza, former postdoctoral researcher and now research partner at DiPLab, has been appointed Visiting Professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) in Brazil! Lucas was an integral part of our team during his work on the Voices from Online Labour (VOLI) project, where he investigated worker experiences in the Global South. At UFF’s History Institute, Lucas is launching a major research initiative supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Running through 2029, “Precarization, Memory, and Resistance” examines the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of labor precarization in the platform economy. His research brings a new historical lens to platform labor studies, bridging social history and the sociology of work. By analyzing digital archives, public history, and industrial relations, Lucas traces how workers remember, organize, and resist precarious conditions in the digital economy. Lucas Souza<br is a Visiting Professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense. His research focuses on platform labour, ranging from food delivery to AI-related platform work. He was a postdoctoral researcher at ENSAE from 2024 to 2025. He earned his PhD in Social History. In 2024 at UFF, and he was a Guest Researcher at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies. His research focuses on the history of precarious work in Brazil, the platformisation of labour, and digital studies. Congratulations to Lucas on this well-deserved appointment. We are excited about the valuable insights his research will contribute to the study of platform labor and worker agency in Brazil and beyond. Moreover, his continued role as a research partner of the VOLI project at DiPLab underscores his ongoing commitment to advancing our common work.

We are thrilled to announce a significant milestone for one of our own: Dr. Mathilde Abel has been appointed as an Associate Professor at Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris! This fantastic achievement recognizes Dr. Abel’s cutting-edge work and commitment to understanding the complexities of digital capitalism and platform labor. During her time as a postdoc with DiPLab, Dr. Abel was a crucial member of our team, contributing significantly to the Voices from Online Labour (VOLI) project. Her work on VOLI focused on AI-related platform work in Latin America, offering vital insights into the evolving landscape of digital work in the Global South. Dr. Abel’s research expertise sits at the intersection of several critical fields: * Platform labor * Algorithmic governance * Cognitive asymmetries in digital capitalism Her methodological approach is unique and robust, combining qualitative fieldwork with computational methods and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze worker-generated data. This blend of methods allows her to capture both the granular human experience and the large-scale patterns shaping digital work. CONGRATULATIONS, MATHILDE! Dr. Abel holds a PhD in Economics from Sorbonne Nouvelle University. Her new role as a faculty member at Télécom Paris not only marks an exciting personal career step but also solidifies the continued relationship between her research and the goals of DiPLab. We look forward to many future collaborations!

We’re proud to share that DiPLab research was featured at the 9th Regulating for Decent Work (RDW) Conference, hosted by the International Labour Office in Geneva from 2–4 July 2025. In a joint paper with Nagla Rizk (A2K4D, American University in Cairo), DiPLab’s Myriam Raymond presented research titled Regulating Digital Platform Payments: Barriers to Fair Compensation and Policy Implications for Egyptian Microworkers. > This study draws on extensive survey data (N=948) and focus group discussions > with Egyptian microworkers performing small online tasks on global platforms.  > It sheds light on the lived reality of financial precarity: unpredictable > payments, opaque fees, currency exchange losses, and reliance on informal > intermediaries. Many workers remain excluded from fair financial participation > due to technical, institutional, and regulatory gaps. Our findings emphasize > that these payment frictions are not marginal inconveniences—they are central > to workers’ experience and reinforce their vulnerability in ways largely > invisible to existing labor regulation. The paper calls for targeted financial > inclusion policies, better platform accountability, and a serious rethink of > regulatory frameworks to protect microworkers as legitimate workers deserving > fair pay and institutional support. > > Within the frame of this ongoing study, a closed-door meeting with key > policymakers and public actors will be convened on November 2025. Amongst the > participants: Egyptian Ministry of ManPower, Central Bank of Egypt, Central > Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), ILO Egypt’s office, > National Telecommunications Regulating Agency (NTRA), Financial Regulatory > Authority (FRA), and the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Agency > (MSMEDA).   This year’s RDW theme focused on Strengthening labour institutions and worker voice to deliver decent employment. It brought together an extraordinary range of grounded research from all over the globe—scholars, policymakers, and practitioners all exchanging ideas on how to make work fairer, safer, and more inclusive. Every session, keynote, and plenary was packed with insights. It was a privilege to be part of such a collective effort where research meets purpose and gives real meaning to what we do.

On 16-17 May 2025, DiPLab’s Paola Tubaro was invited by the French Institute in Argentina to participate in its landmark event “Night of Ideas.” At world-famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, she spoke in panels that provocatively questioned the “new voluntary servitude” of platform work and asked whether “in AI we trust?” On 20 May, she gave a talk on “The Future of Work and AI” at the prestigious University of Buenos Aires. She presented some results of her research on digital labor and its role in AI production, developed in the framework of the DiPLab research program. No Caption No Caption No Caption No Caption

We are overjoyed to welcome Amani Parvathaneni and Sebastián Budnevich as the newest members of the DiPLab team! Over the past several months, these exceptional postgraduate students have already made significant contributions to our scientific research initiatives. Amani and Sebastián have excelled in processing complex datasets across multiple projects, while also enhancing the depth and scope of our fieldwork investigations into labor platforms. Their analytical rigor and innovative approaches have proven invaluable to advancing our mission to understand the evolving dynamics of digital labor. We look forward to their continued growth and impact as part of our collaborative research community. Amani is a Master’s student in Economics at SciencesPo, with a keen interest in political economy, the sociology of markets, and how economic systems shape and are shaped by societal structures. At DiPLab, she is excited to pursue these interests by contributing to the VOLI project. I am a Master’s student in Sociology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) and hold a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Chile. Throughout my academic and professional career, my research interests have focused on the sociology of work in general, and more specifically, on topics related to platform labor, collective action and bargaining, and individual labor rights.