Economy
Long before the likes of Airbnb, Cuba was living the sharing economy
Cuba is a country of contradictions: doctors dance, engineers drive taxis, and teachers farm tobacco, says April Rinne.
April Rinne
April Rinne is a sharing economy expert, advising companies, local and national governments, entrepreneurs, think tanks, investors and development banks, using for-profit and non-profit models. She currently leads the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Sharing Economy Working Group and serves on the urbanization advisory group.
Latest articles
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Four steps to improve our cities
We need to tap into the opportunities presented by the sharing economy - and we need to overhaul outdated policies.
Employment and Skills
How innovation is helping the self-employed
Changes in the workforce are everywhere: shifts from office-based hours to remote work, from fixed to flexible schedules, and from lifetime employment to shorter-term engagements. These c...
Economy
Why your assets are safer in a sharing economy
In 2010, while the world was feeling aftershocks from the 2008 financial crisis, an interesting milestone took place: for the first time in history, global household wealth was equally di...
Science & Technology
Connecting an unconnected tourism industry
It has never been easier to travel. Over the past half century, tourism has grown 40-fold to more than 1.2 billion tourist arrivals a year. We can now connect with a new global community ...
Global Governance
What is the future of work, travel and mobility?
Work – what it is, how it’s done, where it’s done, and by whom – is changing dramatically. We see a shift from nine-to-five workdays to flexible schedules, from lifetime employment to mul...
Global Governance
4 ways the sharing economy can change the world
Two years ago at Davos, the sharing economy was a foreign concept. Whenever I asked anyone I met if they had heard of the phrase, I would receive blank stares. Perhaps 5% of people had he...
Environment
2015: The year of the sharing economy for cities?
Last month, after presenting to the Greek government and hoteliers on the sharing economy and the future of sustainable tourism, I found myself in awkward company: a few people hissed dur...
Economy
3 lessons on financial inclusion
Why is it that despite new technologies and widespread innovation, today’s financial sector provides such ill-fitting products and services to so many people and leaves so many more enti...
Environment
Four ways cities can embrace the sharing economy
The sharing economy is experiencing explosive growth around the world and is forcing us to rethink many aspects of our lives. In less than six years, a company has grown to offer more roo...
Paving the way towards a more sustainable and resilient future
On the eve of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, there is great anticipation about how this year’s theme, “Resilient Dynamism”, will be reflected in sessions, conversations...
Growth
Women, water and the ugly global crisis we’re not talking about
In a series of posts leading up to the World Economic Forum’s launch of the Class of 2012 Young Global Leaders on Tuesday 6 March 2012, April Rinne of Water.org’s WaterCredit initiative d...