29 Sep Prof Calzada contributes to the Senedd Welsh Parliament on ‘Co-operation: Wales & the Basque Country’ with focus on Data Cooperatives and AI for the Public Good
On 24 September 2025, Professor Igor Calzada contributed to the Cross-Party Group on Cooperatives and Mutuals at the Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament in Cardiff.
This intervention followed a productive morning at Cardiff University’s Social Science Research Park (SPARK/SBARC), where he worked with colleagues from WISERD and Cwmpas to deepen the ongoing dialogue on Basque–Welsh cooperation in the fields of data cooperatives, digital inclusion, and AI for the public good.
His talk — “Co-operation: Wales and the Basque Country” — examined how small nations such as Wales and the Basque Country can collaborate to shape fairer and more sustainable digital futures. Drawing on key examples, he highlighted:
- The MONDRAGON Corporation and its cooperative legacy.
- Decades of science, technology, and innovation (STI) institutionalisation by the Basque Government.
- The emergence of Basque grassroots innovation networks.
- Welsh initiatives such as the Digital Inclusion Alliance.
Calzada emphasised that data cooperatives can transform AI: from being a driver of exclusion into a force for social innovation, democratic participation, and digital rights.
📖 His full talk is available in Open Access via Zenodo:
👉 Calzada, I. (2025). Co-operation: Wales & the Basque Country – How Do Small Nations Cooperate? Data Cooperatives and Anticipatory AI Governance.
This contribution builds on earlier international interventions, such as his 2023 engagement in Montreal, Quebec, where he introduced data cooperatives into global debate. Next month, he will continue this trajectory at the Global Innovation Coop Summit in Lisbon (Torres Vedras, Portugal, 27 October 2025), collaborating with the Project Liberty Decentralization Research Center and colleagues from Europe and North America.
📌 With elections approaching, Calzada noted that Wales stands at a crossroads, where the chosen path will define very different futures. The Basque experience demonstrates that cooperatives can be more than enterprises: they can become engines of cultural resilience, democratic innovation, and social justice.
🤝 His contribution aimed to strengthen momentum toward a sustainable, inclusive, and fair digital future in Wales, the UK, the Basque Country, and Spain.
Further reading in #OpenAccess:
Gyda’n gilydd / Elkarrekin / Together — let’s act now.
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