Create Knowledge Commons

Digital change continuously expands options to co-produce, process and share knowledge. Digital tools – from data collection and analysis, model building, knowledge aggregation, visualization to virtuality – can expand scientific methods in all disciplines, facilitate inclusive and cooperative forms of knowledge production (e.g. citizen and open science) and enable knowledge sharing across the globe for educational, scientific or practical purposes. However, this valuable global public good needs to be actively built, managed and protected to serve as a strong lever for sustainability.

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It is yet too often challenged by a lack of understanding, accessibility, infrastructure and supportive framework conditions or by large public-private-imbalances towards well-resourced private innovation hubs (especially in tech-research and platform solutions). Inclusive and innovative knowledge commons will require: operationalized FAIR60 and CARE61 principles for data, public funding and data for open science, research and knowledge, open science standards, broad investments in digital literacy, education and digital knowledge access around the globe. Creating a global knowledge commons has vast potentials for sustainable development, the empowerment of marginalized and underrepresented groups, the creation of a global (environmental) awareness and empathy as well as breakthroughs in sustainability solutions.