The 9th edition of INDL (International Network on Digital Labour) was held in Geneva, at the International Labour Organization (ILO), from 9 to 11 September. Bringing together almost 120 presenters across 35 sessions, the conference provided three days of discussion and exchange around current research on data and platforms work. The ILO was a particularly fitting setting for the conference, having just adopted, in June 2026, the Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy (No. 193), the first international labour standard specifically dedicated to workers in the platform economy. Data labour was explored through a wide range of perspectives, across eight topics, including Gender and Digital Labour, New Frameworks for a “Human-Centric” AI Supply Chain, and The Role of Social Dialogue in Governing AI-Mediated Work. Some of these presentations were given by DipLab members. Paola Tubaro presented her article, Not all equal: A multidimensional vulnerability indicator for platform data workers, which explores data workers and their relationship to data work through the lens of vulnerability. She also closed the conference with an engaging roundtable, chaired by Uma Rani and joined by Timothy Newman and Alex Taylor. The discussion focused on Setting up an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda on AI Supply Chains. On the second day of the conference, Antonio Casilli presented his article Deep Labor: Beyond the Platform/BPO Divide in Data Work. The paper challenges the distinction between platform work and BPO work, proposing instead to examine both through the broader lens of data work, or “deep labor”. Mathilde Abel presented the paper Extracting Workers’ Cognition: An NLP Approach to AI Annotation Guidelines, co-written with Thomas Le Bonniec, who also presented One Arm of the Assembly Line of AI: EU Data Workers and Privacy Regulation. The first paper explores how AI annotation work requires workers to combine cognitive skills, such as interpreting and evaluating content, with the ability to adapt to specific client requirements. The second paper examines how EU data workers’ personal data is collected and exploited by AI companies, arguing that giving workers greater control over their own data could also strengthen data protection for the wider public. Other DipLab-associated members also presented their work. Matheus Viana Braz presented Psychosocial and Health-Related Risks in AI Value Chains: The Case of Latin American Data Workers, which explores burnout risks among Latin American data workers, highlighting how high work demands, income insecurity, algorithmic surveillance, and limited autonomy can contribute to psychological exhaustion and disengagement. He also presented another paper, Digital Autoethnography and the Affective Economy of Data Work in the Global South, in which he draws on nine months of personal experience working on microtask platforms to examine how data work affects workers’ mental health and emotional well-being. Lucas Santos presented an article entitled Regulating Platform Labour in Brazil: Precarity, Contestation, and Workers’ Agency, exploring the debate surrounding the regulation of platform-mediated work in Brazil. Myriam Raymond presented her article From Atomized Workers to Digital Solidarities: Everyday Resistance among Egyptian Data Workers, which examines how Egyptian data workers use Facebook groups to share information, support one another, and develop collective forms of resistance against precarious working conditions and platform control. One of the keynotes was delivered by Julian Posada, a DiPLab-associated researcher, under the title [Data Work and Territory: The Latin American Experience]. Drawing on his new book, Platform Extractivism, he examined the reality of data work in Latin America, with a particular focus on Venezuela. His keynote explored the political-economic factors that have shaped Venezuela’s position within global AI supply chains, highlighting how data work is deeply embedded in broader economic and territorial relations. But the conference was also marked by several important announcements. One of the most significant was the formal notification of Teleperformance regarding the protection of Kenyan data workers. On the final day of the conference, the first South Asian chapter of the International Network on Digital Labour (INDL) was also announced. The workshop will take place in Pondicherry from February 1 to 5, 2027. Finally, it was announced that the next edition of INDL, INDL-10, will take place in São Paulo.

The first South Asian chapter of the International Network on Digital Labour (INDL) was announced on the final day of the INDL-9 conference, held at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. Following this launch, the INDL will hold its first South Asia Workshop on Digital Labour as part of the Social Sciences Winter School Pondichery, at the Institut Français de Pondichéry, from February 1–5, 2027. The workshop program inclusdes “close, critical engagement with empirical research on digital labour in South Asia — gig work and platform precarity, data work and AI supply chains, creative and platform economies, cooperative alternatives to dominant platform models, and the policy debates trying to catch up with all of it.” PhD candidates and scholars are invited to submit their abstract until the 1st october of 2026 To apply, register here and select “Working Group 3: Digital Labour” : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxpf1bxJkWqBsB3Fgv7GotZPXuY87xBRzyXtRiczinlURqFQ/viewform

On 9 September 2026, during the 9th edition of INDL, held at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Teleperformance SE, one of the world’s largest providers of customer relationship management and outsourced digital services, was formally notified to undertake a comprehensive review of its vigilance plan, with the aim of strengthening the protection of the health, safety and integrity of its data workers. The formal legal action was initiated by T-FAPT, the CGT’s national federation representing workers in the postal and telecommunications sectors, together with the Data Labelers Association and The Oversight Lab Africa, two Kenyan organisations working to defend the rights and protection of data workers. The action follows several months of action-research conducted by the organisation Intérêt à Agir, coordinated by Luca D’Ambrosio and Baptiste Delmas, in partnership with DipLab. Their investigations have documented several serious concerns affecting Kenyan data workers, including the vulnerability of migrant workers, exposure to violent, disturbing and potentially traumatising content in the course of their work, and fear of retaliation, which can prevent workers from reporting abuses or effectively exercising their rights. Since 2017, the French Duty of Vigilance Law has required large French companies to establish and effectively implement a vigilance plan designed to identify and prevent serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as risks to the health and safety of people, throughout their activities and relevant value chains. In the case of Teleperformance, the organisations bringing this action argue that the company’s current vigilance plan does not adequately identify or prevent the risks documented by the research conducted by DipLab and Intérêt à Agir among Kenyan data workers. The formal notice therefore calls on Teleperformance to strengthen its vigilance measures and address the risks identified across its global digital labour chain. The formal notice gives Teleperformance three months to comply with its obligations under the Duty of Vigilance Law.

It is now less than a month to go until the start of the 9th annual conference of the International Network on Digital Labor (INDL-9, 9-11 September 2026): AI Supply Chains: Building an interdisciplinary research agenda for AI and labour. DiPLab, along with Yale University, ACM SIGGCAS, and the Geneva Graduate Institute, is truly delighted to be hosting such a vibrant international community of researchers, practitioners and activists at the International Labour Organization (ILO). DiPLab has allocated 10 small scholarships (EUR 400 each) to support travel, accommodation, and meal expenses of promising INDL-9 presenters. Scholarship will be awarded to recipients during the welcome address of the conference. Obtention is conditional on actual participation. After a careful selection process, the following ten applicants have been awarded a scholarship: * Kinchan Chakma * Prachi Sharma * Fitahiana Razafimahenina * Sonam Rai * Shikha Shalini * Amanda Biazzi * Prachi Tayade * Saadeddine Igamane * José Ángel Cerón Hernández * Fasica Gebrekidan We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the selection committee (Matheus Viana Braz, Stella Lopez, Marco Marrone, Myriam Raymond, and Iraklis Vogiatsis) for their time, care, and thoughtful consideration in a highly competitive selection process with a large number of outstanding applications.

For years, Julian Posada (Yale Assistant Professor and DiPLab research associate) has been one of the architects of the field of digital labor studies. From helping shepherd the transition from the European Network on Digital Labor (ENDL, 2017–2018) to the International Network on Digital Labor (INDL, 2019–present), to co-organizing three consecutive INDL conferences, he has been present at every stage of a research community finding its shape and its ambitions. Today, INDL has created several regional chapters, in Middle East and Africa, in Latin America, and now (thanks to Julian Posada) in North America, too. This foundation has its first public moment: a Symposium on Labor and Artificial Intelligence, hosted at Yale University on April 28 and 29, 2026. The event brings together scholars and practitioners to examine how workers are building, using, and pushing back against AI systems. The programme opens with a keynote by Julia Ticona and closes with a roundtable featuring organizers from across the platform economy. Researchers and doctoral students are especially encouraged to attend the doctoral colloquium on April 28 (1:00–5:30 PM, KT 401), where emerging scholars can workshop their research alongside peers ahead of the main symposium on April 29 (9:00 AM–5:00 PM, HQ 134).