Is knowledge sharing a utopia, the international community’s new buzz word? We do not think so....
An economy based on the sharing and spread of knowledge is an opportunity for the emerging countries and for the wellbeing of their populations....
Shared knowledge is...a powerful lever in the fight against poverty. It is also today the key to wealth production....
Since [knowledge] is a public good that ought to be accessible to all, none should find themselves excluded in a knowledge society....
In network societies, creativity and the possibilities of exchange or sharing are greatly increased. These societies create an environment particularly favourable to knowledge, innovation, training and research. The new forms of network sociability that are developing on the Internet are horizontal and not hierarchical, encouraging cooperation, as well illustrated by the models of the research “collaboratory” or "open source" computer software....
[T]hese new practices hold out the hope that we shall be able to arrive at a fair balance between the protection of intellectual property rights, necessary for innovation, and the promotion of knowledge belonging to the public domain.
The sharing of knowledge cannot however be confined to the creation of new knowledge, the promotion of knowledge belonging to the public domain or the narrowing of the cognitive divide. It implies not only universal access to knowledge, but also the active participation of everyone. It will therefore be the key to the democracies of the future, which should be based on a new type of public space....
The obstacles that stand in the way of knowledge sharing are admittedly numerous. Like the solutions we are putting forward, they are at the heart of the UNESCO World Report, Towards Knowledge Societies, directed by Jérôme Bindé and published a few months ago....Knowledge sharing will not forever be a future prospect: for it is not the problem but the solution. The sharing of knowledge does not divide knowledge: it causes it to grow and multiply.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/30/2006 01:55:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
