
Vili Lehdonvirta is an Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. He is an economic sociologist who examines how digital technologies are shaping the organization of economic activities in society.
Email: vili.lehdonvirta@oii.ox.ac.ukTel: +44 (0) 745 6420012
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Vili Lehdonvirta is an Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He is an economic sociologist whose research focuses on digital technologies, such as apps, platforms, and marketplaces — how they are governed, how they shape the organization of economic activities, and with what implications to workers, consumers, businesses, and policy. His research has been published in the Journal of Management, New Media & Society, Work, Employment & Society, and other leading academic journals (Google Scholar).
Lehdonvirta is the principal investigator of iLabour, a major research project on online freelancing and the gig economy, funded by the European Research Council. He also leads research projects on online labour markets’ effects in rural areas and crowdworkers’ skill development. His other recent research takes a critical look at Bitcoin and blockchain. His previous research on virtual goods, virtual consumption and digital games is summarized in Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis, published by MIT Press and translated to Chinese by China Renmin University Press.
Lehdonvirta’s research draws on theories and approaches from economic sociology, new institutional economics, labour sociology, and science and technology studies. He and his students and postdoctoral researchers use a range of conventional social research methods as well as novel data science approaches. Lehdonvirta sits on the editorial boards of the journals Policy & Internet, The Information Society, Electronic Commerce Research and the Journal of International Business Policy.
Lehdonvirta is a Hugh Price Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, an associate member of the Department of Sociology, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute, London, where he co-convenes the Protocol Governance interest group. Lehdonvirta holds a PhD in Economic Sociology from the University of Turku (2009) and a MSc from the Helsinki University of Technology (2005). Previously he worked at the London School of Economics, the University of Tokyo, and the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology. Before his academic career, he worked as a game programmer.
Lehdonvirta has advised companies, policy makers, and international organizations in Europe, United States, and Japan. He is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on the Online Platform Economy and the High-Level Expert Group on Digital Transformation and EU Labour Markets. His research has been covered by The Economist, The Guardian, Washington Post, Die Zeit, Le Monde, NHK World, and other popular media around the world.
Photo credit: John Cairns
Positions held at the OII
- Associate Professor, May 2016 –
- Senior Research Fellow, May 2016 –
- Director of DPhil programme, October 2014 – December 2016
- Research Fellow, May 2013 – May 2016
Research interests
digital economy, platform economy, sharing economy, network economy, crowdsourcing, electronic markets, reputation systems, peer production, future of work, future of organizing, freelancing, skills, labour relations, governance, regulation, Digital Single Market, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan
Areas of interest for doctoral supervision
all of the above topic areas, from sociological, organization studies, and new institutional economics (transaction cost economics) perspectives
Current doctoral students
Latest blog posts
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Bitcoin isn’t a currency – and unless it becomes one it could be worthless
Date Published: 9 February 2018
Authors: Vili Lehdonvirta
Bitcoin is in decline. Not its price, which has increased 900% this year and (at the time of writing) stands at over US$12,000 per unit, but ... Read More Bitcoin isn’t a currency – and unless it becomes one it could be worthless
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Flexibility in the gig economy: How workers manage time on online piecework platforms
Date Published: 10 January 2018
Authors: Vili Lehdonvirta
Gig economy platforms seem to provide extreme temporal flexibility to workers, giving them full control over how to spend each hour and minute of ... Read More Flexibility in the gig economy: How workers manage time on online piecework platforms
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How Uber is changing transportation in Southeast Asia – and with what lessons for Europe
Date Published: 7 September 2017
Authors: Vili Lehdonvirta
This is a guest article written by OII doctoral candidate Godofredo Ramizo Jr., who is researching the socio-political impact of ride apps in Southeast ... Read More How Uber is changing transportation in Southeast Asia – and with what lessons for Europe
Current projects
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iLabour: The Construction of Labour Markets, Institutions and Movements on the Internet
Participants: Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Dr Otto Kässi, Greetje (Gretta) Corporaal, Dr Alex J. Wood
The iLabour project is premised on the idea that a fundamental change is taking place in labour markets. It seeks to understand the social and policy implications of this momentous shift.
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Skills formation and skills matching in online platform work: Practices and policies for promoting crowdworkers’ continuous learning (CrowdLearn)
Participants: Professor Vili Lenhdonvirta, Professor Anoush Margaryan, Dr Huw C. Davies, Laura Pinkerton, Sian Brooke, Julian Albert
Despite the rapid growth of online platform labour, little is known about how crowdworkers acquire and develop their skills. This project seeks to address this important gap in our knowledge.
Past projects
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Data Financing for Global Good: A Feasibility Study
Participants: Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Dr Brent Mittelstadt, Dr Greg Taylor, Yin Yin Lu, Artem Kadikov, Professor Helen Margetts
This project, and the resulting report, provides a first step in the assessment of data financing as a mechanism for social good in the data economy.
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Microwork and Virtual Production Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia
Participants: Professor Mark Graham, Dr Isis Hjorth, Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Dr Alex J Wood, Professor Helena Barnard
This project aims to understand the implications of gig economy and online freelancing for economic development.
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Project Novum: Distributed Ledger Technologies and Structural Change in Financial and Cultural Services
Participants: Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Professor Eric Meyer, Professor Graham Cormode, Dr Duncan MacDonald-Korth, Odysseas Sclavounis
Examining organizational and structural changes that the successful application of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) is expected to require in the financial services and the visual arts, and in areas where the two sectors overlap.
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The Internet’s Effects on Economic Opportunities in Rural Areas: the Case of Online Labour Markets
Participants: Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Dr Otto Kässi, Dr Fabian Braesemann
This project tracks where digitally transacted work takes place, and compares this data to city- and state-level labour market statistics in order to test whether geographical working patterns differ between online and traditional labour markets.
Featured
- Lehdonvirta, V., Kässi, O., Hjorth, I., Barnard, H., and Graham, M. (2019) The Global Platform Economy: A New Offshoring Institution Enabling Emerging-Economy Microproviders. Journal of Management 45(2): 567-599.
- (2019) Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness. New Media & Society 21(1): 42-59. (open access)
- (2018) Workers of the Internet unite? Online freelancer organisation among remote gig economy workers in six Asian and African countries. New Technology, Work & Employment: 33 (2) 95-112. (open access)
- (2018) Flexibility in the Gig Economy: Managing Time on Three Online Piecework Platforms. New Technology, Work & Employment: 33 (1) 13-29.
- (2018) Online Labour Index: Measuring the Online Gig Economy for Policy and Research. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 137: 241-248. (open access)
- (2017) Platform Sourcing: How Fortune 500 Firms Are Adopting Online Freelancing Platforms. Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
- (2014) Pink and Blue Pixel$: Gender and Economic Disparity in Two Massive Online Games. The Information Society 30 (4) 243-255.
- (2014) Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis. MIT Press.
Books
- (2014) Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis. MIT Press.
[Chinese translation published in 2015 by China Renmin University Press]
[paperback edition issued in 2017]
Journal articles
- Lehdonvirta, V., Kässi, O., Hjorth, I., Barnard, H., and Graham, M. (2019) The Global Platform Economy: A New Offshoring Institution Enabling Emerging-Economy Microproviders. Journal of Management 45(2): 567-599.
- (2019) Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness. New Media & Society 21(1): 42-59. (open access)
- (2018) Workers of the Internet unite? Online freelancer organisation among remote gig economy workers in six Asian and African countries. New Technology, Work & Employment: 33 (2) 95-112. (open access)
- (2018) Flexibility in the Gig Economy: Managing Time on Three Online Piecework Platforms. New Technology, Work & Employment: 33 (1) 13-29.
- (2018) Online Labour Index: Measuring the Online Gig Economy for Policy and Research. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 137: 241-248. (open access)
- (2018) Good gig, bad gig: autonomy and algorithmic control in the global gig economy. Work, Employment and Society.
- (2017) Public Policy in the Platform Society. Policy & Internet 9(4): 368-373.
- (2017) Digital labour and development: impacts of global digital labour platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 23(2): 135-162.
- (2015) Crowdsourcing for Public Policy and Government. Policy & Internet 7(3): 263-267.
- (2014) Pink and Blue Pixel$: Gender and Economic Disparity in Two Massive Online Games. The Information Society 30(4): 243-255.
- (2014) Past and Emerging Themes in Policy and Internet Studies. Policy & Internet 6(2): 109-114.
- (2013) The Helsinki Spring: an essay on entrepreneurship and cultural change. Research on Finnish Society 6: 25-28.
- (2013) Designing motivation using persuasive ambient mirrors. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 17(1): 107-126.
- (2012) Drawing on Mobile Crowds via Social Media. Case UbiAsk: Image Based Mobile Social Search Across Languages. Multimedia Systems 18(1): 53-67.
- (2012) The Stoic Male: How Avatar Gender Affects Help-Seeking Behavior in an Online Game. Games and Culture 7(1): 29-47.
- (2011) Prosocial behaviour in avatar‐mediated interaction: the influence of character gender on material versus emotional help‐giving. On the Horizon 19(3): 165-173.
- (2011) Collecting conversations: three approaches to obtaining user‐to‐user communications data from virtual environments. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research 3(3).
- (2011) Identification with online and offline communities: Understanding ICT disparities in Finland. Technology in Society 33(1-2): 4-11.
- (2011) How do young people identify with online and offline peer groups? A comparison between UK, Spain and Japan. Journal of Youth Studies 14(1): 91-108.
- (2010) Online spaces have material culture: goodbye to digital post-materialism and hello to virtual consumption. Media, Culture & Society 32(5): 883-889.
- (2010) Game design as marketing: How game mechanics create demand for virtual goods. International Journal of Business Science and Applied Management 5(1): 14-29.
- (2010) A New Frontier in Digital Content Policy: Case Studies in the Regulation of Virtual Goods and Artificial Scarcity. Policy & Internet 2 (3) 6-28.
- (2010) Virtual worlds don’t exist: Questioning the dichotomous approach in MMO studies. Game Studies 10(1).
- (2009) “Virtual item sales as a revenue model: identifying attributes that drive purchase decisions. Electronic Commerce Research 9(1-2): 97-113.
- (2009) Virtual Consumerism: Case Habbo Hotel. Information, Communication and Society 12(7): 1059-1079.
- (2004) European Union Data Protection Directive: Adequacy of Data Protection in Singapore. Singapore Journal of Legal Studies [2004]: 511-546.
Chapters in edited books
- Graham, M., Hjorth, I., and Lehdonvirta, V. (2019) Digital labor and development: Impacts of global digital labor platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods. In: M. Graham (ed.), Digital Economies at Global Margins. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 269-294.
- (2016) Algorithms That Divide and Unite: Delocalization, Identity, and Collective Action in ‘Microwork’. In: J. Flecker (ed.), Space, Place and Global Digital Work. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 53-80.
- (2015) “ヘルシンキの春” In: Furuichi, N. and Toivonen, T. (eds), 国家がよみがえるとき 持たざる国であるフィンランドが何度も再生できた理由. Tokyo: Magazine House.
- (2014) Virtuality in the sphere of economics. In: Grimshaw, M. (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- (2013) A history of the digitalization of consumer culture. In: Molesworth, M. and Denegri-Knott, J. (eds), Digital Virtual Consumption. London: Routledge. 11-28.
- (2011) A digital media approach to Islamic marketing. In: Handbook of Islamic Marketing. 338-360.
- (2008) Real-Money Trade of Virtual Assets: New Strategies for Virtual World Operators. In: Ipe, M. (eds). Virtual Worlds. Hyderabad: Icfai University Press. 113-137.
- Pelimekaniikat osana ansaintalogiikkaa – Miten pelisuunnittelulla luodaan kysyntää. In: Suominen, J., Koskimaa, R., Mäyrä, F. and Sotamaa, O. (eds.), Pelitutkimuksen vuosikirja 2010.
Reports
- (2018) The Art Market 2.0: Blockchain and Financialisation in Visual Arts. Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
- (2017) Platform Sourcing: How Fortune 500 Firms Are Adopting Online Freelancing Platforms. Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
- (2017) The Risks and Rewards of Online Gig Work At the Global Margins. Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
- (2016) Governance and Regulation. In: Distributed Ledger Technology: Beyond Blockchain. London: UK Government Office for Science.
- (2011) Knowledge Map of the Virtual Economy. Washington, DC: World Bank.
- (2011) Digital labour in online games. In: O. Sotamaa et al. (eds), New Paradigms for Digital Games: The Finnish Perspective. Tampere: University of Tampere.
- (2010) Advanced Virtual Economy Applications: Project Final Report. Espoo: Helsinki Institute for Information Technology.
Conference papers
- (2016) “Virtual Production Networks: Fixing Commodification and Disembeddedness”, Development Studies Association 2016. DSA 2016: Development Studies Association Conference.
- (2016) “The new frontier of outsourcing: online labour markets and the consequences for poverty in the Global South.”, Work, Employment and Society Conference. SAGE Publications (UK and US).
- (2016) “Not a Lot of People Know Where It Is”: Liabilities of Origin in Online Contract Work. Collective Intelligence, NYU, New York, 31 May – 2 September 2016.
- (2016) “Virtual Production Networks: Fixing Commodification and Disembeddedness”, GPNs and social upgrading: labour and beyond – Workshop.
- (2016) “Building the Online Labour Index: A Tool for Policy and Research”, CSCW 2016 workshop on The Future of Platforms as Sites of Work, Collaboration and Trust,.
- (2014) “Online labour markets – levelling the playing field for international service markets?”, IPP2014: Crowdsourcing for Politics and Policy conference, University of Oxford,.
- (2014) “Situated crowdsourcing using a market model“, UIST 2014 – Proceedings of the 27th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. 55-64.
- (2012) “Razing the virtual glass ceiling: Gendered economic disparity in two massive online games”, ICA Annual Conference.
- (2012) “Drawing on mobile crowds via social media Case UbiAsk: Image based mobile social search across languages“, Multimedia Systems. 18 (1) 53-67.
- (2011) “Mobile image search via local crowd: A user study“, Proceedings – 1st International Workshop on Cyber-Physical Systems, Networks, and Applications, CPSNA 2011, Workshop Held During RTCSA 2011. 2 109-112.
- (2011) “Real-Time Crowd Computing Using Social Media”, CrowdConf 2011.
- (2011) “Engaging Social Medias: Case Mobile Crowdsourcing”, First International Workshop on Social Media Engagement (SoME 2011), 20th International World Wide Web Conference.
- (2010) “A Crowdsourcing Based Mobile Image Translation and Knowledge Sharing Service”, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2010).
- (2010) “Activity-based micro-pricing: Realizing sustainable behavior changes through economic incentives“, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics). 6137 LNCS 193-204.
- (2010) “Digital free time: social leisure and leisurely shopping in online peer groups”, XVII ISA World Congress of Sociology RC13/RC23 joint session on Emerging Technologies and Leisure.
- (2009) “UbiPay: Minimizing transaction costs with smart mobile payments“, Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Mobile Technology, Application and Systems, Mobility ’09.
- (2009) “ECOISLAND: A system for persuading users to reduce CO2emissions“, Proceedings – 1st International Workshop on Software Technologies for Future Dependable Distributed Systems, STFSSD 2009. 59-63.
- (2009) “Tracking behavior in persuasive apps: Is sensor-based detection always better than user self-reporting?“, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – Proceedings. 4045-4050.
- (2009) “Using individual, social and economic persuasion techniques to reduce CO 2 emissions in a family setting“, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series. 350.
- (2009) “Applying Pervasive Technologies to Create Economic Incentives that Alter Consumer Behavior”, UBICOMP’09: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11TH ACM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING. 175-184.
- (2008) “Reflecting human behavior to motivate desirable lifestyle“, Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, DIS. 405-414.
- (2008) “UbiPay: Conducting everyday payments with minimum user involvement“, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – Proceedings. 3537-3542.
- (2008) “Using aesthetic and empathetic expressions to motivate desirable lifestyle“, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics). 5279 LNCS 220-234.
- (2007) “Lifestyle ubiquitous gaming: Making daily lives more plesurable“, Proceedings – 13th IEEE International Conference on Embedded and Real-Time Computing Systems and Applications, RTCSA 2007. 257-264.
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Digital Technology and Economic Organization
This course will teach students how to apply basic social science theory towards analysing the impact of digital technologies on economic organization.
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The Global Platform Economy: A New Off-Shoring Institution Enabling Emerging Economy Providers
Recorded: 8 November 2018
Duration: 00:03:58
Video abstract of the paper 'The Global Platform Economy: A New Off-Shoring Institution Enabling Emerging Economy Providers', published in the Journal of Management
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Work in the Platform Economy
Recorded: 26 April 2018
Duration: 00:49:39
In this seminar, hosted by The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), together with the Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, OII Associate Professor Vili Lehdonvirta discusses how the rights of workers can be protected in the platform economy.
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The Problem of Governance in Distributed Ledger Technologies
Recorded: 11 November 2016
Duration: 00:25:22
Professor Vili Lehdonvirta gives a talk at the Alan Turing Institute on 'The Problem of Governance in Distributed Ledger Technologies'
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Digital Technology and Economic Organization: OII MSc Option Course
Recorded: 13 October 2016
Duration: 00:04:28
This option course for the OII MSc in "Social Science of the Internet" will teach students how to apply basic social science theory towards analysing the impact of digital technologies on economic organization.
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Digital Assembly 2016 – Workshop 2: eCommerce and Online Platforms
Recorded: 28 September 2016
Duration: 03:12:05
Video of Professor Vili Lehdonvirta in Panel Discussion 'The changing role of online platforms' at the Digital Assembly 2016 - Workshop 2: eCommerce and Online Platforms on 28 September 2016.
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Rise of online work captured in a new Online Labour Index
Recorded: 26 September 2016
Duration: 00:02:06
Vili Lehdonvirta discusses the digital transformation of labour markets and the rise of online work captured in a new Online Labour Index.
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Online Platforms, Diversity and Fragmentation
Recorded: 10 March 2016
Duration: 00:23:38
Dr Vili Lehdonvirta, uses survey data and interviews with workers to show the heterogeneity of backgrounds and outcomes for people working on online labour platforms and compares this to traditional manufacturing work.
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Emerging Markets on the Internet
Recorded: 8 November 2013
Duration: 00:19:33
Vili Lehdonvirta discusses emerging markets on the Internet.
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Online labour platforms offer growing alternative to traditional offshoring
8 November 2018
Online labour platforms that connect freelance workers and clients around the world are emerging as an alternative to traditional offshoring, according to new Oxford Internet Institute research.
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New research reveals the poor quality working conditions of the digital gig economy
8 August 2018
New research reveals the poor quality working conditions of the digital gig economy
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Art Market 2.0: New report outlines future equitable art market powered by blockchain technologies
22 May 2018
Launched today in the House of Commons by DACS, a new, ground-breaking report conducted by academics at the Oxford Internet Institute and The Alan Turing Institute envisions a future Fair Art Market model and financialisation of visual arts powered by the
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Prizes for OII staff and students at Oxford’s OxTalent awards
22 June 2017
The OII picked up prizes at Oxford's 2017 OxTALENT awards, which recognise members of the University who have made innovative use of digital technology.
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Rise of online work captured in the first Online Labour Index
21 September 2016
The Online Labour Index is a tool that measures the utilisation of online labour markets in near realtime. It shows us how much work is being done, and what kinds of skills are being utilised.
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Conference Call for Papers: “Crowdsourcing Politics and Policy” (IPP2014)
5 November 2013
We are pleased to call for papers for the 2014 Internet, Politics, Politics conference, convened by the OII for the journal Policy and Internet, in collaboration with the ECPR Standing Group on Internet and Politics.
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Digital Transformations of Work Conference
10 March 2016
This conference is presented as part of the Green Templeton Transformation of Work Conference
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DTC Workshop: Analysing Data with Crowds
25 November 2014
This course is designed to give students hands-on experience with the power and the pitfalls of using crowd sourced labour in social science research. Crowd sourced labour is becoming increasingly attractive as a part of the researcher’s toolkit.
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DTC Workshop: Capturing Online Data
24 November 2014
In this intensive one-day course, we will use the iPython web interface to collect data from Reddit and Twitter. We will discuss issues with data formats, APIs, authentication and strategies for the non-coder.
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IPP2014: Crowdsourcing for Politics and Policy
Thursday 25 - Friday 26 September 2014
The IPP2014 conference will explore the new research frontiers opened up by crowdsourcing for politics and policy. Taking place in Oxford, it is convened by the OII, the journal Policy and Internet, and the ECPR.
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Book Launch: Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis
26 June 2014
Early cyberspace theorists predicted that the digital world would be a world of plenty. But today's Internet users are faced with many kinds of artificially scarce virtual markers.
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Crowdsourcing in Social Research: New Tools for Data Collection and Analysis (Doctoral Research Methods Workshop Series, Part 3)
6 December 2013
Crowdsourcing is increasingly used in science as a means of obtaining, transforming, and analysing data. We ask what we can achieve with crowdsourcing that they couldn’t achieve before?
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Workshop on Virtual Currency Research
21 November 2013
This workshop aims to bring together scholars from diverse backgrounds to discuss the potential research value of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
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Bitcoin isn’t a currency – and unless it becomes one it could be worthless
9 February 2018
Authors: Vili Lehdonvirta
Bitcoin is in decline. Not its price, which has increased 900% this year and (at the time of writing) stands at over US$12,000 per unit, but ... Read More Bitcoin isn’t a currency – and unless it becomes one it could be worthless
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Flexibility in the gig economy: How workers manage time on online piecework platforms
10 January 2018
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Gig economy platforms seem to provide extreme temporal flexibility to workers, giving them full control over how to spend each hour and minute of ... Read More Flexibility in the gig economy: How workers manage time on online piecework platforms
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How Uber is changing transportation in Southeast Asia – and with what lessons for Europe
7 September 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
This is a guest article written by OII doctoral candidate Godofredo Ramizo Jr., who is researching the socio-political impact of ride apps in Southeast ... Read More How Uber is changing transportation in Southeast Asia – and with what lessons for Europe
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How the world’s largest companies use online freelancing platforms: New report
29 August 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Online labour platforms allow companies to source work from freelancers over the Internet on an on-demand basis. We know that this phenomenon grew about ... Read More How the world’s largest companies use online freelancing platforms: New report
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Considering the Taylor Review: Ways Forward for the Gig Economy
21 July 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices in the UK was published last week. The review assesses changes in labour markets and employment practices, ... Read More Considering the Taylor Review: Ways Forward for the Gig Economy
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Where are online workers located? The international division of digital gig work
11 July 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Online Labour Index top occupation by country, 1-6 July 2017 The Internet has created a global market for digitally delivered freelance work, which is ... Read More Where are online workers located? The international division of digital gig work
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The online gig economy grew 26% over the past year
10 July 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Online Labour Index, July 2016 – June 2017 (28-day moving average) Online freelancing and crowdwork are some of the terms used for temporary and ... Read More The online gig economy grew 26% over the past year
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Can universal basic income counter the ill-effects of the gig economy?
14 April 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
shutterstock.com Platforms like eBay, Uber, Airbnb, and Freelancer are thriving, growing the digital economy and disrupting existing business. The question is how to ensure ... Read More Can universal basic income counter the ill-effects of the gig economy?
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Could universal basic income counter the gig economy’s problems?
13 April 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
shutterstock.com Platforms like eBay, Uber, Airbnb, and Freelancer are thriving, growing the digital economy and disrupting existing business. The question is how to ensure ... Read More Could universal basic income counter the gig economy’s problems?
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Could data pay for global development? Introducing data financing for global good
3 January 2017
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
“If data is the new oil, then why aren’t we taxing it like we tax oil?” That was the essence of the provocative brief ... Read More Could data pay for global development? Introducing data financing for global good
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The blockchain paradox: Why distributed ledger technologies may do little to transform the economy
21 November 2016
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the blockchain, is widely expected to find applications far beyond digital payments. It is celebrated as a “paradigm shift in the ... Read More The blockchain paradox: Why distributed ledger technologies may do little to transform the economy
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Video: Vili Lehdonvirta introduces the Online Labour Index
20 September 2016
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
In this video, Prof Vili Lehdonvirta talks about the digital transformation of labour markets and introduces the Online Labour Index, the first economic indicator ... Read More Video: Vili Lehdonvirta introduces the Online Labour Index
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Is the online gig economy growing?
20 September 2016
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Online Labour Index, May-September 2016 (28-day moving average) Employers and workers are increasingly using online platforms to engage in project- or task-based freelance work ... Read More Is the online gig economy growing?
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Which countries and occupations are embracing the online gig economy?
19 September 2016
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
The Online Labour Index (OLI) is a new economic indicator that provides an online labour market equivalent of conventional labour market statistics. It is available ... Read More Which countries and occupations are embracing the online gig economy?
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The limits of uberization: How far can platforms go?
29 February 2016
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Platforms that enable users to come together and buy/sell services with confidence, such as Uber, have become remarkably popular, with the companies often transforming the industries they enter. ... Read More The limits of uberization: How far can platforms go?
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Hiring two postdocs to study the online gig economy
16 November 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
This face will become familiar to the successful candidates. I’m looking for two great postdocs to join me for at least 3.5 years to ... Read More Hiring two postdocs to study the online gig economy
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Can virtual workers strike? Book chapter on identity and collective action in microwork
3 November 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Tyldesley miners during the 1926 General Strike (Wikipedia) I’ve posted online a pre-print version of my upcoming chapter in Space, place and global digital ... Read More Can virtual workers strike? Book chapter on identity and collective action in microwork
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Crowdsourcing for public policy and government
27 August 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Evening reception at the Ashmolean Museum for the IPP2014 conference: crowdsourcing for public policy. If elections were invented today, they would probably be referred ... Read More Crowdsourcing for public policy and government
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Do platforms connect clients directly to providers? The new network patterns of digital work
20 August 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
As part of our project on digital labour and development, Isis Hjorth, Mark Graham, Helena Barnard and I have been meeting and interviewing over ... Read More Do platforms connect clients directly to providers? The new network patterns of digital work
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Should we love Uber and Airbnb or protest against them?
30 July 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Some theorists suggest that such platforms are making our world more efficient by natural selection. The reality is a little more complicated. Reposted from ... Read More Should we love Uber and Airbnb or protest against them?
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Uber and Airbnb make the rules now — but to whose benefit?
27 July 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
The “Airbnb Law” was signed by Mayor Ed Lee in October 2014 at San Francisco City Hall, legalizing short-term rentals in SF with many ... Read More Uber and Airbnb make the rules now — but to whose benefit?
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Why are citizens migrating to Uber and Airbnb, and what should governments do about it?
27 July 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Protest for fair taxi laws in Portland; organizers want city leaders to make ride-sharing companies play by the same rules as cabs and Town ... Read More Why are citizens migrating to Uber and Airbnb, and what should governments do about it?
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Playbor: Who is paid in play money, and who keeps the conventional rewards?
16 January 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
She could end up earning 11 percent less than her male colleagues. Image from EVE Online by zcar.300. Digital technology has uneven impacts on global economic ... Read More Playbor: Who is paid in play money, and who keeps the conventional rewards?
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Gender gaps in virtual economies: are there virtual ‘pink’ and ‘blue’ collar occupations?
15 January 2015
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Determinants of economic wellbeing have long been investigated from many angles in the social sciences: a key finding that is consistent across economies and ... Read More Gender gaps in virtual economies: are there virtual ‘pink’ and ‘blue’ collar occupations?
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Major ERC grant for investigating online labour markets, institutions, and movements
10 December 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Vietnamese online labour market Vlance.com Please excuse the somewhat self-congratulatory tone of this post. I was very excited to learn this week that the European ... Read More Major ERC grant for investigating online labour markets, institutions, and movements
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Finnish decision to allow same-sex marriage “shows the power of citizen initiatives”
28 November 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
In a pivotal vote today, the Finnish parliament has voted in favour of removing references to gender in the country’s marriage law, making it ... Read More Finnish decision to allow same-sex marriage “shows the power of citizen initiatives”
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Geographies of gold farming: New research on the third-party gaming services industry
29 October 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
Gold farming, game labour, playbor – these terms are used to refer to the harvesting of online game items, currencies, and characters with a ... Read More Geographies of gold farming: New research on the third-party gaming services industry
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Labour and the Internet: Takeaways From the ISA World Congress of Sociology #3
4 August 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
In this series of blog posts, Vili Lehdonvirta writes about his thoughts and experiences at ISA 2014 in Yokohama, Japan. In this third and ... Read More Labour and the Internet: Takeaways From the ISA World Congress of Sociology #3
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Labour and the Internet: Takeaways From the ISA World Congress of Sociology #2
29 July 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
In this series of blog posts, Vili Lehdonvirta writes about his thoughts and experiences at ISA 2014 in Yokohama, Japan. In this second part, ... Read More Labour and the Internet: Takeaways From the ISA World Congress of Sociology #2
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Labour and the Internet: Takeaways From the ISA World Congress of Sociology #1
25 July 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
In this series of blog posts, Vili Lehdonvirta writes about his thoughts and experiences at ISA 2014 in Yokohama, Japan. In this first part, ... Read More Labour and the Internet: Takeaways From the ISA World Congress of Sociology #1
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Economics for Orcs: how can virtual world economies inform national economies and those who design them?
3 July 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
What can ‘real’ economies and the economists who run them learn from these virtual economies? How can a focus on social fabric — rather ... Read More Economics for Orcs: how can virtual world economies inform national economies and those who design them?
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Past and Emerging Themes in Policy and Internet Studies
12 May 2014
Author: Vili Lehdonvirta
What kind of research does the journal Policy & Internet publish? Editor Vili Lehdonvirta approaches the question from two angles; first, by examining the ... Read More Past and Emerging Themes in Policy and Internet Studies
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Brexit: Could technology ease the Irish border issue?
30 January 2019 Oxford Mail
"If there are wonderful technologies that make borders near frictionless, why aren’t they being used elsewhere – or where are they being used?” said Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, associate professor at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute.
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On the blockchain, anyone can be an art dealer
10 January 2019 Wired
Digital trading means that more and more people can buy and sell artworks
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Blockchain won’t save the world, but might make it a better place
1 June 2018 ZDNet
Although blockchain's crypto-anarchist utopian dream is unlikely to be realised, it still promises plenty of benefits
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Kodak shares rocket as it reveals blockchain and Bitcoin initiatives
10 January 2018 ITPro
But experts question Kodak's cryptocurrency plans, which include KODAKCoin to pay photographers
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Desperate Venezuelans Turn to Video Games to Survive
5 December 2017 Bloomberg Businessweek
Virtual currencies from such games as RuneScape are prized in a country whose real money is worthless.
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Without Humans, Artificial Intelligence Is Still Pretty Stupid
12 November 2017 The Wall Street Journal
here are likely hundreds of thousands of people, world-wide, whose work is sold as AI, says one expert
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The Gig Economy Isn’t Just For Startups Anymore
29 August 2017 Fortune
Coverage of a new report by Gretta Corporaal and Vili Lehdonvirta on how Fortune 500 companies are turning to online freelancing platforms like Upwork and PeoplePerHour to find designers, marketing staff, IT specialists and other knowledge workers.
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Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash: what happens now?
7 August 2017 ITPro
Two currencies with 50% market share in the same area are less useful than one currency with 100% market share from the point of view of ability to pay, says Vili Lehdonvirta in a comment for ITPro.
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Bitcoin splits as new currency takes off
2 August 2017 BBC News
The bitcoin split might make it harder to establish Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash as currencies useful for commerce, says Vili Lehdonvirta, commenting on a story for BBC News.
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Oxford: Bangladesh second largest source of online workers
22 July 2017 Dhaka Tribune
According to a recent study, Bangladesh is the second largest supplier of online labour in the world. The OII's iLabour report analysed data across multiple e-platforms connecting freelancers with employers.
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The Bitcoin Paradox
21 July 2017 Oxford Student
Bitcoin aims to operate as a decentralised, trustless technology void of central authority, says the OII's Vili Lehdonvirta.
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India followed by Bangladesh: largest supplier of online labour
21 July 2017 The Independent
According to a recent study, India is the largest supplier of online labour in the world. The OII's iLabour report analysed data across multiple e-platforms connecting freelancers with employers.
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Bangladesh 2nd largest provider of ‘online labour’
20 July 2017 Financial Express
Bangladesh is the second largest supplier of online labour, says a recent OII report, analysing data from e-platforms connecting freelancers with employers.
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India largest provider of ‘online labour’
20 July 2017 Economic Times
India is followed by Bangladesh, US, Pakistan, Philippines and the UK in what is being termed "digital gig work" or freelance work offered online. Over half of the online work supplied out of India is dominated by software development and technology.
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India source of most online labour in the world, claims iLabour study at Oxford
20 July 2017 Connected to India
According to a recent study, India is the largest supplier of online labour in the world. The OII's iLabour report analysed data across multiple e-platforms connecting freelancers with employers.
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Online Gig Economy Up 26% Over Last Year: Oxford Internet Institute
9 July 2017 Spend Matters
The Oxford Internet Institute recently highlighted a sharp rise in its Online Labour Index, which "measures the utilization of online labor across countries and occupations by tracking the number of projects and tasks in real time."
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Pay crash expected in online gig economy as millions seek work
24 March 2017 New Scientist
A huge number of people in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa looking for online “gig economy” work could cause a race to the bottom on pay and conditions, according to a new report from the Oxford Internet Institute.
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Online jobs in gig economy growing fast, finds new index
22 September 2016 The Guardian
Jobs advertised on sites such as as Freelancer.com and PeoplePerHour leapt by 14% since May, says OII's Online Labour index.
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Forget Uber: Online self-employment gigs are booming in popularity
22 September 2016 The Memo
The total number of new freelance digital jobs in the UK has jumped a huge 14% since May alone, according to new data.
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Oxford Internet Institute’s iLabour Project Launches Online Labor Index to Measure Gig Economy
22 September 2016 Spend Matters
Oxford University Associate Professor Vili Lehdonvirta and fellow researcher Dr Otto Kässi have announced the public launch of the Online Labour Index (OLI), a first-of-its-kind metric to track utilization of "online labor" in the so-called "gig economy".
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A third of companies are at ‘full capacity’ and looking to hire
22 September 2016 CIPD
The OII's new Online Labour Index tracks job vacancies listed on sites such as Freelancer and PeoplePerHour, with growth in the UK faster than the rest of Europe and the US.
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Gig economy on the rise in the UK
21 September 2016 IT Pro
Oxford research reveals 14% increase in on-demand freelance platforms in the UK since May.
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Rapid increase in ‘gig’ working
21 September 2016 HR Magazine
Researchers at the University of Oxford have launched the Online Labour Index, which gathered data on the online gig economy from sites and apps across the world between May and September 2016.
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What is Bitcoin? The debate rages on
21 September 2015 Times of India
Vili Lehdonvirta comments in an article about the future regulation of Bitcoin, the virtual currency.
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The Bitcoin community disagrees on what happens next
19 September 2015 Business Standard
Vili Lehdonvirta comments on an article about regulation of Bitcoin, the virtual currency
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Africa: Digital Work Signals a Global Race to the Bottom
15 September 2015 allAfrica
Mark Graham writes about his research with Vili Lehdonvirta into the effect of online technologies on the African labour market. By connecting rich and poor into one labour market, workers' rights could be damaged, he says.
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Bitcoin could split in debate over currency’s future
18 August 2015 BBC News Technology
Vili Lehdonvirta comments on the changes being introduced to Bitcoin production which, he says, could make the virtual currency less accessible.
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Bitcoin value surges as Microsoft starts accepting cryptocurrency
11 December 2014 techradar
Vili Lehdonvirta comments on the significance of the news that Microsoft is accepting Bitcoin payments for Xbox games and other digital applications.
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Virtual Economies Are the Future of Consumption
25 June 2014 Pacific Standard
The online magazine features Vili Lehdonvirta's recent book, Virtual Economies:Design and Analysis.
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Selling Candy to Babies
3 April 2014 Polygon
Vili Lehdonvirta contributes to an article on free-to- play online games which encourage players including children to run-up big bills. 'It would be smart of the industry to do some self-regulation', he says.
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If You’ve Ignored Bitcoin Up Until Now, This One’s For You
26 February 2014 npr
In the wake of the MtGox bitcoin exchange collapse npr explains the background and considers the implications. Vili Lehdonvirta says that Bitcoin allows people to dream dreams about how things could be different.
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Bitcoin exchange crash may have cost users $350m
25 February 2014 New Scientist
Vili Lehdonvirta adds to the debate about the collapse of MtGox a prominent Bitcoin exchange which could prove very expensive for customers.
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Why was Flappy Bird so popular?
10 February 2014 Metro US
In the wake of the abrupt closure of the ‘Flappy Birds’ game, Vili Lehdonvirta answers questions about its popularity.
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Bitcoin: Problems already cloud the currency’s future
5 February 2014 New Scientist
An article highlighting potential problems which could leave the whole Bitcoin currency vulnerable quotes Vili Lehdonvirta.
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How Virtual Currency Could Make It Easier To Move Money
15 January 2014 NPR
Vili Lehdonvirta contributes to an article on how the virtual currency, Bitcoin is attracting attention from governments and companies.
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Bitcoin just turned 5. And we have no idea who started it.
3 January 2014 Washington Post
The Switch, the technology section of the Washington Post speculates on the possible creator of bitcoin, the virtual currency. It suggests that it might be OII researcher Vili Lehdonvirta.
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Bitcoins: What Does the Future Hold?
27 November 2013 China Radio International
China Radio interviewed Vili Lehdonvirta about Bitcoin. China accounts for more than half the daily turnover of Bitcoins.
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Backlight
14 October 2013 VPRO Netherlands
Vili Lehdonvirta was interviewed for ‘Backlight’ a weekly Future Affairs programme from Dutch broadcaster VPRO, about how technology can monitor every aspect of our lives. Does this make a closer union between man and machine? (Dutch and English)
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1000 likes för 15 dollars
5 August 2013 Hbl.fi
Finland’s largest Swedish language daily paper quotes Vili Lehdonvirta in an article about the Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ programme which exposed the activities of so-called click farms used to artificially indicate approval of a product on social media.
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Bitcoin – part 2
1 August 2013 Pod Academy
Pod Academy which highlights current research interviewed Vili Lehdonvirta about Bit.coin (both podcast and transcript).