The boom of the collaborative consumption. Are you ready?

Collaborative Consumption is the latest example of the value of the internet for consumers. Internet has significantly reduced transaction costs of renting anything between individuals. People with expensive and under-used assets can earn extra money by renting them to others. At the same time, those who rent these assets also benefit, because they do not have to buy them and its rental price is lower than in a traditional company. It is no longer about possessing goods but having access to them.

In our next itnig friday, Albert Cañigueral will explain what this new and emerging economic paradigm is, which is already large and disruptive enough so that regulators and companies have become aware of it. What do they have in common Bicing, SocialCar, Airbnb, Dripping or Lyft? How will this affect my business? What are the main challenges?

After Albert's talk two projects of collaborative consumption will be presented:

• mitanit, a platform that brings together people interested in have breakfast, lunch or dinner in a private home with a fixed menu. This platform helps the relationship within the participants to be as transparent and safe as possible for getting a very good dining experience.

• comunitats, is a startup that allows organizations, businesses and schools manage their own time banks in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge among its members. The business model is known as SaaS (for its acronym Software as a Service): The company leases its application hosted in the cloud, and is responsible for its maintenance. The customer is responsible for customizing and managing its community. The maintenance’s price depends on the number of users you have.

If you want to know more about the rise of collaborative consumption and get to know this 2 amazing projects, do not miss this itnig friday!

The rise of the sharing economy - The Economist (March 2013)