An alliance for the future of independent work in the Dominican Republic

Nippy culminated its “Impacting DR” Agenda with a conversation on “Smart Cities,” bringing together key leaders and stakeholders to address the future of self-employment in the country. IDB Lab, INTRANT, Mastercard, the Embassy of the Republic of Argentina, and an outstanding group of allies, including road safety experts and representatives of independent workers, attended the event.

During the meeting, a video summarized the achievements of the “Impactando RD” Agenda, highlighting a significant impact in just two months: more than 32,938 direct interactions with independent workers. This agenda, driven by the commitment of more than 15 companies, public agencies, transit entities, platforms, and international organizations, seeks to follow up and support this new modality of income generation through platforms.

Initiatives included the provision of scholarships, access to health services and insurance, various activities such as tree planting, photo contests that capture the daily lives of workers, surveys, and focus groups to understand their needs better. In addition, workers participated in digital and face-to-face training at the Mastercard Nippy Center, attended webinars with experts in financial inclusion, and received approved hard hats, reaffirming the alliance’s commitment to their safety and well-being.

Voices that marked the day

One of the highlights was the intervention of Nelson González, a freelancer, who stressed that flexible hours and competitive income are key factors for those who choose to work on platforms. González also expressed his concern for road safety, stating that “day by day they put their lives at stake” and thanked Nippy for “being the first company that opened its doors to them and showed them that they matter too.”

Karen González, representative of INTRANT, and Aníbal Germoso, from Accidentes RD, presented alarming data on the accident rate in this sector, highlighting that platform workers who use motorcycles are the most exposed. Margarita Rodríguez, also from INTRANT, spoke about the need to formalize the more than 400,000 motoconchistas in the country and highlighted the importance of Nippy’s collaboration in this formalization initiative.

Representing Mastercard, Coral Sánchez emphasized the importance of financial inclusion and saw independent workers as micro-entrepreneurs. She pointed out that “financial education can transform their income and growth potential.” Smeldy Ramirez, from IDB Lab, mentioned his institution’s efforts to research the future of work and highlighted Nippy as an example of a comprehensive approach to “Workertech” solutions.

Finally, Martín Marcaida of Nippy highlighted the value of these alliances and emphasized that the “Impactando RD” Agenda and the conversation are just the beginning of collaborative work to create solutions that empower independent workers in the country.

A future with education and formalization

All the speakers agreed on the importance of continuing this collaboration. The alliance’s following initiatives will focus on the education and digitalization of independent workers to boost the development of this new way of generating income in the Dominican Republic. “We are the first to agree, but our challenge is to incorporate new actors who share these priorities to build an inclusive future for workers,” said the Nippy representative.

Nippy thanks all the companies and institutions that were part of the “Impactando RD” Agenda: Special thanks to Smeldy Ramirez Rufino, Irene Arias, Tomas Alonso, Icelsa Diaz, Sandra Winkler, Andiel Galvan, Margarita Rodriguez, IDB Lab, Boost, Civic House, Argentine Embassy in the DR, Enlaces, InDrive, Llamando al Doctor, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Mio Wallet, Paycaddy, Seguros Chat, Sentinel, Starbucks, Total Energies, Ubox, Wageindicator, Workertech Argentina, among others.