[okfn-coord] COMMUNIA membership

Tue Jul 15 18:36:14 UTC 2008

I'm pleased to say that the OKF is now an official member of the 
COMMUNIA network!

This should be a great opportunity to work more closely with other EU 
organisations that are interested in open knowledge related stuff!

I'm currently in Barcelona at the Free Knowledge Free Technology 
conference (which they waived the fee for in the end - I can't remember 
if I mentioned this on list) and will go to the Science Commons event 
tomorrow, where I'll talk more to Juan Carlos about what happens next.

Anyhow - I hope everyone is well!

Jonathan

-------- Original Message -------

Dear Jonathan Gray,

I am glad to inform you that your organization has been selected
by the general assembly of the COMMUNIA project
as a new network member.

We will soon be in touch to define the formalities,
particularly the signing of the Network Agreement
between your organization and the Politecnico di Torino
(coordinator).

Welcome!

Best regards,

juan carlos de martin

juan carlos de martin
coordinator - communia network
http://communia-project.eu

Jonathan Gray wrote:
> Please find our application for COMMUNIA membership below. Please 
> don't hesitate to get in touch if you require any further information.
>
> Warm regards,
>
> Jonathan Gray
> The Open Knowledge Foundation
>
>
> --------
>
> ## 1. Name of your organization;
>
> The Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF)
>
> ## 2. Type of organization (academic, NGO, enterprise, government, etc.);
>
> Not-for-profit organisation
>
> ## 3. Location of your organization (country, city);
>
> Registered office in Cambridge, UK.
>
> ## 4. Short presentation of your organization;
>
> The Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) is a not-for-profit organisation
> founded in 2004 and dedicated to promoting open knowledge in all its
> forms. It is a European leader in this field and prominent on the
> international stage.
>
> A small Executive Group is responsible for running the Foundation on a
> day to day basis and for coordinating the activities of its volunteers.
> This is supplemented by the expertise of technical contractors and a
> distinguished Advisory Board.
>
> The Foundation has pioneered work in developing robust legal mechanisms
> for sharing data - and has taken a central role in helping to develop
> standards for openness in knowledge and services. Crucially it acts as a
> hub, drawing together representatives from across the knowledge society
> - from academics, public servants and entrepreneurs to data experts,
> archivists and web developers. Forums and an annual conference serve to
> strengthen this network.
>
> In addition to research and policy work, it contributes to the
> infrastructure for open knowledge users and producers. This includes
> CKAN, a registry of knowledge packages, and KForge, a suite of tools for
> managing software and knowledge projects. It has also initiated several
> open knowledge projects - such as Open Shakespeare and Open Economics.
>
> ## 5. Brief explanation of your organization's interest in the digital
> public domain;
>
> COMMUNIA's working definition of the digital public domain broadly
> overlaps with the Open Knowledge Definition (see opendefinition.org).
> There are strong areas of common interest - from scientific research to
> public sector information to creative works. Many of those involved with
> the OKF are academics or professionals engaged in research and policy
> work relating to the digital public domain in its various forms.
>
> ## 6. Brief explanation of your organization's specific interest in the
> COMMUNIA project;
>
> We are committed to strengthening the European network of groups and
> individuals interested in open knowledge and the digital public domain.
> Also we are very interested in the various working groups of the
> COMMUNIA project. We have discussed the possibility of initiating
> projects with network members under the auspices of COMMUNIA - such as a
> set of public domain calculators for Europe (to calculate whether or not
> a given work is in the public domain in a given jurisdiction).
>
> ## 7. Brief description of what your organization could contribute to
> COMMUNIA, if selected to join the network;
>
> We could commit time and energy to COMMUNIA activities that intersect
> with the aims of the OKF. We would be particularly keen to work on
> project relating to mapping the public domain in Europe, and to
> consolidate the activities of the various competence centres on the
> public domain in Europe. We are also interested in helping to facilitate
> the growth of a shared knowledge base of research and policy work in
> relevant fields. We have experience in organising events such as our
> Open Knowledge Conference (OKCon), domain specific Forums, and technical
> workshops.
>
> The OKF may be able to commit to helping with administrative tasks -
> from event organisation to the preparation and dissemination of
> publications and reports. Most importantly we could bring the expertise
> of our Executive Group, our Advisory Board and our international
> community of volunteers and contributors to the COMMUNIA project.
>
> ## 8. Names and short bios of key persons in your organization that
> could be involved in COMMUNIA;
>
> == Rufus Pollock ==
>
> Rufus Pollock is a Founding Director of the Open Knowledge Foundation
> and Mead Fellow in Economics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University.
> His research focuses on innovation and IP, with particular attention to
> open models of innovation. Other areas of particular interest include
> two-sided/platform industries (e.g. Operating Systems, Search Engines),
> and research on happiness and well-being.
>
> He is author of The Value of the Public Domain published by the
> Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), and co-author of Models of
> Public Sector Information Provision via Trading Funds commissioned by HM
> Treasury and BERR. He is currently working on an European Commission
> funded project analysing the scope and nature of the public domain in
> Europe.
>
> == Jordan Hatcher ==
>
> Jordan has made the study of intellectual property and IT law,
> especially US/UK/EU comparative aspects, his main focus. He is a
> graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, and holds an advanced
> degree in IP and technology law from the University of Edinburgh School
> of Law.
>
> Jordan has worked on a number of projects related to open content and
> copyright, including a study by the CIE about UK public sector use of
> Creative Commons and similar licences in 2005, an Eduserv Foundation
> funded study on use of open content by the cultural heritage sector in
> 2007, and on the Creative Commons Scotland localisation in 2005 and in 
> 2007.
>
> He is one of the principal developers of the Open Data Commons project
> and Chair of the Advisory Council for the Open Knowledge Definition.
>
> == Jo Walsh ==
>
> Jo Walsh is a geo-spatial data expert currently working for the European
> Space Agency. She is also Board Member of the Open Source Geo-Spatial
> Foundation and co-author of O'Reilly's Mapping Hacks. Her technical
> interests have been in metadata exchange and the web; the semantic web;
> spatial applications and spatially processing information. She studied
> English at Linacre College and Magdalen College at Oxford University.
>
> == Jonathan Gray ==
>
> Jonathan Gray is Operations Manager at the Open Knowledge Foundation. He
> studied at Cambridge University, the Open University and is currently
> doing research at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has a
> background in the library sector. He recently sat on the programme
> committees of I-SEMANTICS '08, Graz and Linked Data on the Web
> (LDOW2008), Beijing.
>
> ## 9. Any other relevant information that could convince the COMMUNIA
> members to select your organization rather than other applicants.
>
> In addition to working with other European groups and networks, we work
> closely with international organisations - from Creative Commons, the
> Internet Archive, SPARC, W3C, F/OSS groups and others. Our diverse
> technical experience could also prove to be valuable.
>
>