2nd COMMUNIA Conference 2009
Call for Papers
28th-30th June 2009, Torino, Italy.

Organized by:

CODATA, Committee on Data for Science and Technology
Université Catholique de Louvaine
Department of Economics “S. Cognetti de Martinis”- University of Turin
COMMUNIA – The European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain

In Collaboration with

BRICK – Collegio Carlo Alberto
and the Sponsorship Support of
The EU DIME Network of Excellence

URL: http://communia-project.eu/conf2009

Background and Rationale of the Conference

The rapid advances in digital technologies and networks over the past two decades have significantly altered and improved the ways that data and information can be produced, disseminated, managed, and used, both in science and in many other spheres of human endeavor, and have created unprecedented opportunities for accelerating the progress of science and innovation. These developments are part of the emerging broader movement in support of formal and informal “peer production” and global dissemination of information by mobilizing the cooperation of distributed science and knowledge communities in open networked environments. Indeed, as recognized increasingly in the literature, the emerging economics of science in the digital environment can be seen as a complex mix of social sharing and exchange in communities of peers as a modality of production, along with public support and private appropriation as an incentive for translating research results into new commercial applications.

This conference – held within the context of the EU-funded project COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the Digital Pubic Domain - aims to bring together leading people from a number of international scientific research communities, social science researchers and science, technology and innovation policy analysts, to discuss the rationale, policy support and practical feasibility of arrangements designed to emulate key public domain conditions for collaborative research. Initiatives and policies have been proposed that go beyond “open access” to published research findings by aiming to facilitate more effective and extensive (global) sharing of not only data and information, but research facilities, tools, and materials. There is thus a need to examine a number of these proposals’ conceptual foundations from the economic and legal perspectives and to analyze the roles of the public domain and contractually constructed commons in facilitating sharing of scientific and technical data, information and materials. But it is equally important to examine the available evidence about actual experience with concrete organizational initiatives in different areas of scientific and technological research, and to devise appropriate, contextually relevant methods of assessing effectiveness and identifying likely unintended and dysfunctional outcomes.

Call for papers

The G-SEKSI conference will take up four thematic topics relating to the conceptual foundations and practical feasibilities of contractually constructed “commons” and related bottom-up public domain initiatives (joint policy guidelines, common standards, institutional policies, …) that would offer shared access to a variety of research resources, identifying effective models and salient needs and opportunities for effective initiatives across a diverse range of research areas. These themes are:

• Theme (1) The economics and legal foundations of contractually constructed research commons,
• Theme (2) Analytical frameworks and case studies of operating arrangements in real-world prototype and functioning arrangements for sharing research resources,
• Theme (3) Monitoring, evaluating and improving the performance of contractually constructed scientific resource commons, 
• Theme (4) Managing arrangements for expanded knowledge-sharing, and information re-use among researchers engaged in “open science” and “propriety research regimes.”

Submission of contributions is encouraged from both junior and senior scholars interested in understanding the foregoing thematic issues that will be explored in the specific contexts of the following four main categories of research resources:

1. published research results and working papers
2. research tools and software
3. databases
4. bio-physical materials.

On the second and third (full) days of the conference, the conference will provide for four parallel tracks through the breakout sessions, each devoted to one of the four major categories of “shareable” research resources.

Important dates:

• 1 March 2009. Deadline for submission of full paper or extended abstract (minimum 3 pages)
• 15 March 2009. Opening of registration for participants
• 31 March 2009. Notification of acceptance
• 15 April 2009. End of registration for the conference for both paper presenters and participants.  
• 1 June 2009. Deadline for submission of full papers

To submit a contribution and for further information contact: brick@carloalberto.org  with a copy to Cecile Carbonell at codata@dial.oleane.com

Participation, Travel and accommodation expenses:

Participation to the Conference is free for invited speakers and authors of selected papers. To attend the conference is asked a fee of €100 upon registration.
The participation to the Gala dinner on the night of June 29th will cost €50.
A contribution to the coverage of travel and accommodation expenses might be offered to a selected number of papers by both junior and senior scholars (one author for each selected paper).

The International Organizing Program Committee

Chair:    Prof. Juan Carlos de Martin (Politecnico di Torino – Coordinator COMMUNIA Project)
Prof. Cristiano Antonelli (Università di Torino)
Prof. Jean-Michel Dalle (Université de Paris -- Pierre-et-Marie-Curie)
Prof. Paul A. David (Stanford University)
Prof. Tom Dedeurwaerdere (Université Catholique de Louvain)
Prof. Aldo Geuna (Università di Torino)
Prof. Dietmar Harhoff (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich)
Prof. W. Edward Steinmueller (University of Sussex)

Secretariate: Kathleen Cass (CODATA)

International Scientific Committee

tbc