Tanveer Hasan, Executive Director, Centre for Internet & Society gave a talk on Digital Commons and Its Governance 24 March. The talk was moderated by Dr. Aakansha Natani. The seminar was organized under the  Jean Monnet module on ‘Digital Democracy and Data Governance in the European Union’.

The speaker began by introducing the idea of the ‘commons’, which adheres to a larger  community that exists as a cohort. There are several aspects in it, such as knowledge commons, social commons, public commons, etc. The speaker then proposed the idea of the ‘digital commons’, which are spaces like Wikipedia, open-source software, datasets, etc. The commons must be both non-exclusionary and non-rival, despite there existing inequalities and inequities.

The speaker identifies the norm of co-opting technology and profit motives in the technology space, which have been so strong that the idea of a digital commons seems to be lost. In this space, balancing openness with protection from exploitation, ensuring long-term sustainability and managing multiple stakeholders propose challenges to the governance of such digital commons.

 At present, the space is largely reliant on donations, crowdfunding, grants or public funding, which is not optimal to allow them to thrive. Public-private partnerships, government oversight, paired with community-driven models would be key to allowing digital commons to grow and thrive.

The seminar concluded with some audience discussion and questions, and left everyone engaged with new perspectives and insights. 

 March 2025