Introduction

The idea to have an “Asia Commons” meeting some time in December 2007 was raised during a bird-of-feather meeting at iCommons Summit in Dubrovnik in June 2007. It was agreed that Taipei would be a convenient location to hold the meeting. Creative Commons Taiwan was asked to plan for such a meeting. This proposal outlines such a plan, but proposes January 19, 2008 (Saturday) as the meeting date.

During the bird-of-feather meeting in June, the following objectives were proposed for the Taipei meeting:

1. Strengthening the Asia Commons by bringing in more members and improving links to related organizations within the Asia Pacific region;
2. Promoting the commons in the region, and providing a forum to develop practical strategies for this promotion;
3. Providing a forum for industry engagement, and in particular identifying and presenting successful commercial uses of open content licensing within the region;
4. Providing a forum for discussion of topics of importance to the Asia Commons (e.g., the meaning of ‘open’ in our age, and the history and role of the commons in Asia).

It was also expected that the Taipei meeting would be a good venue for people to formulate Asia Pacific perspectives on the issues of commons in our age, and to further prepare for presentations from these perspectives at the next iCommons Summit in Sapporo (July 30, 2008 to August 1, 2008).

The Taipei meeting is open to all people who are interested in commons and related issues. The language of the meeting is English.

Meeting Schedule

• Jan. 18 (Fri.) afternoon: Pre-meeting of Creative Commons jurisdiction projects on collaborative projects; Reception for all meeting participants.
• Jan. 19 (Sat.): The main meeting. Proposed program schedule:
  • Morning session:
    • Opening
    • Keynote speech
    • Presentations from the information and content industries
    • Panel on commons-based economies and industry engagement
  • Afternoon session:
    • Presentations on social, cultural, legal, and technological aspects of commons, especially in the context of Asia Pacific
    • Case study presentations and project showcases
    • Panel on commons and Asia Pacific
  • Evening: Dinner and concert
• Jan. 20 (Sun.): Optional workshops, site visits, and social events.

Cost break-down

• The Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica (located at Taipei, Taiwan), will provide meeting venue and facility, will arrange on-campus accommodation for speakers and key participants, and will prepare the meeting website and proceedings.
• Except for invited speakers, participants arrange their own transportation.
• Except for invited speakers, participants pay a small registration fee to cover food and refreshment.
• Sponsorship is to be sought to support the invited speakers and key participants.

Remaining tasks

1. To seek interest from key participants and to publicize the event.
2. To form a strong meeting program in order to encourage participation and to facilitate collaboration;
3. To seek funding to support the meeting (especially to sponsor the invited speakers).