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The International
Association
for the Study of
the Commons
2nd Thematic Conference on
Knowledge Commons:
Governing Pooled Knowledge Resources
with special attention to the fields of
medicine and the environment
SEPTEMBER 5-7, 2014
New York University School of Law
New York, New York
USA
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CALL FOR PAPERS
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 28, 2014
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IASCKC.NYUENGELBERG.ORG
WITH SUPPORT FROM

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
YOCHAI BENKLER
Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Professor for
Entrepreneurial Legal Studies
Harvard Law School
ERIC VON HIPPEL
T. Wilson (1953) Professor in Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
MICHAEL MCGINNIS
Professor, Department of Political Science
Senior Research Fellow, Vincent and Elinor
Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and
Policy Analysis
Indiana University, Bloomington
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CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
How are knowledge, information, and other shared intellectual resources
governed? Building upon the successful 2012 global thematic IASC conference
on knowledge commons, this 2nd conference aims to take stock of the latest
developments in the interdisciplinary study of knowledge commons. The
conference will seek to better understand how knowledge commons work,
where they come from, what contributes to their durability and effectiveness,
and what undermines them. This year’s program will highlight knowledge
commons in the fields of medicine and the environment by devoting special
paper tracks and policy sessions to those topics. The Conference organizers
invite paper submissions in the following areas:
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS
T1: Medical science and innovation commons
T2: Knowledge commons in environmental research, innovation and
management
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GENERAL TRACKS
T3: Scientific and technical digital data and information commons
T4: Knowledge commons in the cultural sector
T5: Knowledge commons approaches to scientific research
T6: Traditional and local communities’ knowledge
T7: Innovation Commons
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METHODOLOGICAL TRACK
T8: Innovative analytical and empirical approaches
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ILLUSTRATIVE SUB-TOPICS
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS
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Track 1: Medical science and innovation commons
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• Access to clinical trial data for follow-on research
• Nested and networked medical research consortia (e.g., the Rare Disease
Clinical Research Network and associated rare disease research consortia)
• “Open” approaches to drug development
• Platforms for sharing of medical knowledge and innovation between
patients
• Sharing norms and institutions among physicians
• Commons-based approaches to global health issues
Track 2: Environmental science and innovation commons
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• Digital portals for citizen based biodiversity monitoring and taxonomy (e.g.
citizen taxonomy, monitoring of bird populations)
• Citizen engagement and crowdsourcing in environmental management
(e.g. of invasive species)
• Commons approaches to environmental research and innovation (e.g.
climate change research, development of environmentally friendly
technologies)
• Managing big environmental data as a commons
• Open hardware and mobile technology-based systems for data collection
by stakeholders
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ILLUSTRATIVE SUB-TOPICS
GENERAL CONFERENCE TRACKS
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Track 3: Scientific and technical digital data and information
commons
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• Governance of large-scale public databases (e.g. in the field of genomics)
• Institutional repositories of publications and scientific information:
collaborative design, financing, management, and long-term preservation
• Open access of journal publications, including mechanisms for access to
research data and the governance of relevant privacy issues
• Open data repositories and management in government settings
Track 4: Knowledge commons in the cultural sector
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• Public repositories of audio-visual recordings of art, dance, performances
(e.g. audio-visual archives of publicly funded initiatives and performances)
• Commons-based production, curation and sharing of artistic and other
creative works (e.g. archives, digital libraries, and peer production and UGC
platforms)
• Heritage collection of works in the cultural sector after copyright
exhaustion
• Peer to peer file sharing
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ILLUSTRATIVE SUB-TOPICS
GENERAL CONFERENCE TRACKS (CONT’D)
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Track 5: Knowledge commons approaches to scientific
research
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• Crowdsourcing, citizen science and citizen engagement
• Ex-situ collections (e.g. CGIAR, microbial collections, Smithsonian, human
cell tissues)
• Research consortia, public-private partnerships and other collaborative
research initiatives
• Social norms of scientific and medical communities
• Synthetic biology commons (e.g. BioBricks, MIT group)
• Traditional seed exchange networks
• History of open science
Track 6: Traditional and local communities’ knowledge
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• Commons governance of traditional artistic, musical, spiritual, and other
cultural resources
• Protecting and sustaining access to traditional medicinal and agricultural
knowledge and practices
• Promoting living and preserving old dialects (e.g. open source repository of
texts in Gaelic dialect)
• Technology and knowledge commons that are complementary to
commons governance of natural resources
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ILLUSTRATIVE SUB-TOPICS
GENERAL CONFERENCE TRACKS (CONT’D)
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Track 7: Innovation Commons
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• Commons-based strategies for technology transfer, distribution and sharing
across institutions
• History of collective knowledge pooling initiatives (e.g. ancient guilds,
airplane inventors)
• Dissemination of technological innovations
• Open source software, hardware
• “Makerspaces”
• Online systems supporting collective action/collaboration
• Patent pools, standard-setting organizations, and other commons-based
approaches to production of consumer goods and services
• User innovator communities
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METHODOLOGICAL TRACK
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Track 8: Innovative analytical and empirical methodological
approaches
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• Frameworks or approaches to large-scale cross-case comparisons or
longitudinal analyses
• Institutional economics and game theoretical models
• Adaptation of the Institutional Analysis and Development framework for
the analysis of knowledge commons
• Metrics for success in knowledge commons and approaches to measuring
outcomes for cross-case comparisons
• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research methodologies
• Institutional diagnostic approaches
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ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The international call for papers on the conference website will be open beginning January 8,
2014. Abstracts may be submitted at iasckc.nyuengelberg.org. Deadline for submission of an
abstract is February 28, 2014. All abstracts should be uploaded through the online abstract
submission form available on the conference website and include the following components:
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1. Selection of 1 to 3 thematic tracks in order of priority (cf. information on tracks below)
2. Abstract of 500 words maximum, which should be organized around the following 4 subheadings :
a. Summary of the research
b. Design/methodology/approach
c. Findings
d. Originality/value for knowledge commons research
3. Personal Bio of 250 words maximum. The Bio should include up to 3 most relevant
publications; affiliation and position; main field of expertise.
All submissions will be reviewed by the international scientific program committee.
Acceptance decisions will be based on scientific quality, relevance to the conference themes
and originality.
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Those with accepted abstracts must confirm attendance by registering and paying the
conference fee of $270 through the conference website. The deadline for registration by
presenters is May 31, 2014. The registration deadline for other attendees is June 30, 2014.
Presenters are strongly encouraged to submit full paper drafts for posting on the conference
website. The deadline for draft paper submission is August 1, 2014.
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Papers from the 1st IASC Knowledge Commons conference were eligible to be considered for
publication in a special issue of the International Journal of the Commons. The organizers will
explore similar options for papers presented at this conference.
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KEY DATES
January 8, 2014: opening of the conference website and abstract submission
February 28, 2014: deadline for abstract submission
April 30, 2014: information on abstract acceptance
May 31, 2014: registration deadline for presenters
June 30, 2014: registration deadline for general attendees
August 1, 2014: deadline for full draft submission
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INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
CHAIR
KATHERINE J. STRANDBURG
Alfred B. Engelberg Professor of Law
New York University School of Law (USA)
CO-CHAIR
CHARLES M. SCHWEIK
Department of Environmental Conservation
Center for Public Policy and Administration
University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA)
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INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM COMMITTEE
as of December 1, 2013
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Prof. Jorge Contreras, Washington College of Law, American University (USA)
Prof. Paul David, Department of Economics, Stanford University (USA)
Prof. Tine De Moor, Utrecht University (Netherlands)
Prof. Tom Dedeurwaerdere, Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
Prof. Matthijs den Besten, Montpellier Business School (France)
Prof. Severine Dussolier, Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (Belgium)
Prof. Clemente Forero-Pineda, University of the Andes (Colombia)
Prof. Brett M. Frischmann, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University (USA)
Charlotte Hess, Associate Dean Emerita, Syracuse University Library (USA)
Prof. Benjamin Mako Hill, Department of Communications, University of Washington (USA)
Prof. David Lametti, Faculty of Law, McGill University (Canada)
Prof. Michael J. Madison, University of Pittsburgh School of Law (USA)
Prof. Arul Scaria, Delhi National Law University (India) (from February 2014)
Prof. Victoria Stodden, Department of Statistics, Columbia University (USA)
Paul Uhlir, Director, Office of International Scientific Information Programs, The National
Academies (USA)
• Prof. Alvaro Zerda, Columbia National University (Columbia)
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ABOUT
The International Association for the Study of the Commons
The International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) is a
nonprofit Association devoted to understanding and improving institutions for
the management of resources that are (or could be) held or used collectively by
communities in developing or developed countries. IASC's goals are to
encourage exchange of knowledge among diverse disciplines, areas, and
resource types; to foster mutual exchange of scholarship and practical
experience; and to promote appropriate institutional design.
The Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at NYU School of Law sponsors
interdisciplinary work in the area of innovation law and policy. It draws together
legal scholars and practitioners, economists, historians, culturalists, social
scientists, and representatives of the innovation industries to examine questions
on allocating global resources to creative activities; to study the legal regimes
and cultural forces that influence innovation; to explore methods for optimizing
the exploitation of intellectual products; and to search for new ways to facilitate
the transfer of technology from creator to end-user, across fields, and among
nations.
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