GICS 2.3-Building Trust Together
At the Global Innovation Coop Summit, this workshop explored how cooperatives can build or strengthen global networks for knowledge and resource sharing in an age defined by artificial intelligence. As AI reshapes every sector, cooperatives face both new opportunities and profound questions:
How can we use these technologies to enhance collaboration and resilience, while keeping them aligned with cooperative values like transparency, democracy, and shared ownership? Participants discussed how to develop ethical frameworks, data cooperatives, and shared governance models to ensure AI strengthens — rather than undermines — cooperation.
The question for all of us now is: how can cooperatives harness AI to expand global solidarity and shared intelligence?

How can we build cooperative networks that use AI ethically — to share knowledge, strengthen resilience, and promote collaboration across borders?

Some things to consider in the discussion:
Challenge:  What barriers — technical, cultural, or institutional — prevent cooperatives from engaging in shared digital or AI-based collaboration?
Opportunities:  How can data cooperatives, open tools, or shared governance models make AI more transparent and community-driven?
Intercooperation and Innovation:  What would a truly cooperative AI ecosystem look like — one where members co-own the data, co-design the models, and co-benefit from the insights?