Explaining Digital Commons
A shared understanding of these concepts and their importance in the wider community and within responsible government ministries is crucial to moving this agenda forward in the right way.
To explore these questions, we have put together accessible 5-pagers in which we concisely discuss the building blocks of Digital Commons and Digital Public Infrastructure, and the possible role(s) of government, using appealing examples.
The Basics
Digital Commons are not only about digital technology, but also about the economy, how it is organised and who it benefits. Digital Commons represent a democratic practice, with shared ownership, thus initiating a shift away from centralised (private or state) management of technology and towards democratisation of digital infrastructure. In this way Digital Commons help guard and reinforce such public values as democracy, self-determination and sovereignty. In the first explainer we put forward how this shift offers numerous opportunities for the Netherlands, or any country that takes Digital Commons seriously.
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Collective Ownership
The second Explainer in the series is about Collective Ownership. It’s one of the core aspect of the commons in general, both physical and digital. Digital Collective Ownership revolves around the idea that a group of citizens or organizations can collaborate and collectively ‘own’ a certain digital resource.
We often talk about stewards instead of owners, especially in the digital domain. A steward (a co-developer, user or support organization) of let’s say, Wikipedia or the Matrix protocol, plays a crucial role in maintaining the digital resource together with the other stewards, but does not necessarily posess any formal owner rights.
Read the explainer
Democratic Practices
Digital Commons have no shareholders and deliberately move away from hierarchical governance models. What do alternative governance models look like in practice? On what values are they based, and what role do procedures and licences play? And what exactly is democratic about these models?
This Explainer, featuring examples like Mastodon, Wikipedia and Drivers Cooperative, answers those and more questions.
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Collaborative Culture
Non-hierarchical, non-market-driven collaboration on the Internet is a cultural phenomenon on a previously unprecedented scale, in which Digital Commons play a major role. This Explainer provides insights into that collaborative culture.
Three points are central: The various motivations that drive people to become part of Digital Commons projects; the intersection between individual and collective interests; and an ecosystem perspective on innovation. This time, the Linux open source operating systems and the federated protocol Matrix and chat service Element serve as examples.
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Sovereignty & Resilient Ecosystems
The resilience of and sovereignty over digital infrastructure is under great pressure in the Netherlands and Europe. This also puts the economy and democracy at risk. These vulnerabilities are due to increasing cyber threats and rising geopolitical tensions, but mainly to a high dependence on digital infrastructure that is largely in the hands of a small number of dominant foreign market players. The practice and governance of Digital Commons offer a solution here.
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Caring Practices
In contrast to a capitalist model of accumulation, manipulation, and exploitation, Digital Commons fosters an ethic of care, self-determination, and sufficiency. Caring is a core element of the commons. We can consider a digital good as part of the Digital Commons when it is embedded in a framework of care that takes various forms.
An ideal-typical view of the Digital Commons is of a community that cares not only for the technology being developed but also for the people involved, while remaining aware of the collective responsibility to bring care into the broader economy and society.Read the explainer
