iCommons Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 23-25 June 2006
"Towards a global digital commons"
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The past few years has seen the burgeoning of a number of initiatives aimed at opening the fields of creativity, science and knowledge in communities around the world. Practitioners from these movements currently identify themselves as falling within a particular community – 'free and open source software', 'open access', 'open content' and 'open science', amongst others – but they share key processes and values whose common elements are yet to be fully realized.
This year's iCommons Summit aims to bring together, in a creative, stimulating and cooperative environment, the pioneers from these communities – to inspire and learn from one another and establish closer working relationships around a set of incubator projects. This year's landmark event is structured around three major themes:
1. Tools. Developing effective, relevant tools to assist other creators, authors, scientists and researchers to develop and showcase their creativity and innovation.
2. Policy. Strategies to ensure international, regional and local policy fora that are conducive to the development and nurturing of the commons.
3. Practice. Learning from the experience of others to develop effective models for the development of open content in societies around the world.
The goals of iCommons are to build the Summit into a launch-pad for global cooperation around commons projects and to provide an open, creative space for practitioners to learn from best case practices and to showcase new ideas. With iCommons' strong institutional partnerships, we will continue to nurture these alliances throughout the year, providing the tools and spaces for commoners to build on the friendships and shared experience of the event, and building a united global commons community.
The three-day program will have a mix of formal presentations, roundtable working groups, practical workshops and community-driven program slots that enable participants to gain strategic insights and practical techniques as well as play a critical role in shaping the emerging global commons movement.
With keynote speakers including Larry Lessig, Joi Ito, James Boyle and Jimmy Wales who will inspire participants with a vision of a living, thriving commons, to members of the expanding iCommons community showcasing their ideas and inviting participation in key projects, this year's Summit is proving to be a must-attend for anyone engaged in the growth and development of the digital commons of the future.
About iCommons
Incubated by Creative Commons, iCommons is an organisation with a broad vision to develop a united global commons front by collaborating with open content, access to knowledge, open access publishing and free culture communities around the world.
Using the annual iCommons Summit as the main driver of this vision, iCommons will feature projects that encourage collaboration across borders and communities, and promote the tools, models and practice that facilitate universal participation in the cultural and knowledge domains. The Summit will collaborate with organisations and communities from around the world to demonstrate and share best practice and discuss strategies for continuing the positive impact that “sharing” practices are having on participation in the cultural and knowledge domains.
During the year iCommons will incubate projects that cross borders and unite commons communities, acting as a platform for international collaboration towards the growth and enlivening of a global digital commons.
Contact
Heather Ford
Acting Executive Director, iCommons
+27 82 87 27374 (mobile)
[email][email protected]