Policy Punchline

Wingham Rowan has long been a leader in forecasting the interactions between technology and society. For instance, he created, produced, and presented cyber.cafe, Britain’s longest running TV series about the internet. He also was a presenter on his own program for children, Rowan’s Report. More recently, however, Mr. Rowan has been studying the future of labor and how technology can improve the unpredictable nature of the gig economy. He leads Britain’s Beyond Jobs Project and the international nonprofit, Modern Markets for All. His big ideas about Public Official E-Markets, or POEMs, have been implemented recently in Long Beach, CA to great success. At its root, POEMs are an effort to bridge the unequal gap between markets used by the upper and lower ends of the economy. Specifically, there are millions of “irregular” workers who cannot work traditionally scheduled hours. These people need jobs, and they can provide valuable labor to businesses. Mr. Rowan believes that everyday workers and small businesse