From 12 to 16 October, representatives of the international cooperative movement from 18 countries and 5 continents will meet in Rome to turn the cooperative identity into a shared vision, a community of practice and a roadmap for Cooperative AI.
How can the cooperative movement contribute to building artificial intelligence that is more democratic, inclusive and oriented towards the common good?
This is the question at the heart of the Cooperative AI Bootcamp, taking place in Rome from 12 to 16 October 2026, promoted by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), Legacoop and Fondazione PICO.
Following the launch of the Cooperative AI Programme by the three organisations of the cooperative ecosystem at the ICA Global Conference, held in Panama last September, the first international bootcamp dedicated to concretely guiding the development and governance of artificial intelligence according to cooperative identity will take place one month later.
This initiative is rooted in the awareness that the cooperative movement – representing 1 billion members worldwide – cannot simply limit itself to using technologies developed elsewhere, but can and must contribute to shaping their evolution, rules and impacts. With this objective in mind, 30 people from 18 countries and 5 continents will work closely together over three days.
The first day will focus on mapping the AI landscape, starting with a reflection on how cooperative identity can shape the development and governance of AI. With the same focus, participants will explore the AI value chain: from raw materials to data centres, from algorithms to model training, and ultimately to end users and the actors currently shaping AI development and governance. Through discussions and working sessions, participants will examine opportunities, challenges and possible cooperative responses. The day will conclude with the development of an initial shared vision for Cooperative AI.
On the second day, the work will move from vision to the first elements of a strategy. Participants will explore the role cooperatives can play in the future of AI, identify common themes emerging from the different visions, and work on defining a transition pathway, identifying the key strategic milestones needed to make change possible.
The third day will focus on taking the work beyond the bootcamp. The aim will be to co-design a Community of Practice on Cooperative AI, defining its purpose, structure and ways of working, identifying the stakeholders to engage, and building a shared roadmap based on concrete actions, roles and tools.
From mapping the present to defining a vision, and from vision to a roadmap: the Cooperative AI Bootcamp will be a space for collective work, where begin to shape AI, its governance, and its development around cooperative identity.
