A group of copyright academics, creative and user stakeholders, and computational researchers adopted a new set of “Principles on Knowledge Governance”. The Principles seek to enable African and other Global South uses of digital research tools without promoting “data colonialism” concerns, including wrongful uses of traditional knowledge and community-held information. 

The participants at the 3-day residential retreat in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, which produced the principles included: 

Allan Rocha, Federal University Rio De Janeiro

Ben Cashdan, Black Stripe Foundation

Caroline Ncube, University of Cape Town

Chidi Oguamanam, University of Ottawa

Chijioke Okorie, University of Pretoria

Denise Nicholson, Scholarly Horizons

Desmond Oriakhogba, University of Western Cape

Kyla Jade, Recreate Coalition

Sanya Samtani, Mandela Institute, University of the Witwatersrand

Sean Flynn, American University Washington College of Law

Tobias Schonwetter, University of Cape Town

Vitor Ido, South Centre

Vukosi Marivate, University of Pretoria

The Cradle Principles on Knowledge Governance and a  Research Agenda are now open to comment. The Principles and Research Agenda seek to guide inquiry and policy making into how knowledge governance systems can “promote the goals of sustainable development, social justice, and human rights, including the rights of everyone to produce, receive and impart information; to create, produce, participate in and benefit from culture and science; to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production; and of indigenous peoples to self-determination, culture, language, and participation in decision-making processes affecting their communities.” The Principles and Research Agenda were presented for comment at the Transforming Africa 2024 Conference at the University of Johannesburg, 28 February 2024. Both documents are currently open for public comment before a next revision later in the year.

The draft Principles currently state that:

  1. Knowledge governance systems are composed of governmental regulations from numerous domains including international, constitutional, traditional knowledge, intellectual property, media and telecommunications, privacy, competition, biodiversity, and other laws, and are also composed of non-governmental cultural practices and norms, including traditional systems governing the use of community-held knowledge. 

  2. Knowledge governance systems must promote the goals of sustainable development, social justice, and human rights, including the rights of everyone to produce, receive and impart information; to create, produce, participate in and benefit from culture and science; to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production; and of indigenous peoples to self-determination, culture, language, and participation in decision-making processes affecting their communities.

  3. Knowledge governance systems must provide balanced frameworks that protect and promote access to, and use of information for research, scientific inquiry, analysis, translation, and preservation of cultures and languages, including in online cross-border contexts and collaborations. Rights of researchers should extend to access and use of privately held information needed for the exercise or protection of any fundamental right. 

  4. Knowledge governance systems must promote the rights and interests of Indigenous peoples and local communities’ in the knowledge economy, including their right to self-determination, inclusion, cultural integrity, data sovereignty and sustainable development. Indigenous peoples and local communities must be able to actively participate in innovation, wealth creation, and research, and receive equitable access to the benefits arising therefrom. Researchers have a duty to respect and promote the custodian function of traditional communities over their knowledge and innovation systems.

  5. Knowledge governance systems must ensure sovereignty over knowledge resources to combat unidirectional information resource extraction and misappropriation that aggravates inequalities and injustice in the ability to access and use information and knowledge, including by: 

  • preventing abuse and misuse of intellectual property rights or the resort to practices that unreasonably restrain trade, promote excessive pricing, or adversely affect the transfer of technology by rights holders;

  • Giving due accreditation to custodial communities for any traditional knowledge or traditional cultural expressions generated from them;

  • protecting against the commodification, misappropriation, enclosure, and dispossession of information by accumulation;  

  • striving to enhance functional access to digital resources, especially in the developing and least developed countries, and not escalating the digital divide and concerns about so-called digital colonialism and other exclusionary tendencies in the global knowledge economy.