Name: The Curious Commons: Towards a Digital Public Goods Lab
Start: 2026-10-08T10:30:00-0400
End: 2026-10-08T11:35:00-0400

All sessions are available online except round tables, special activities, and workshops.

The Curious Commons: Towards a Digital Public Goods Lab

Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:35am EDT

7 DR5

ID: 33849

What does it actually mean to uphold knowledge as a public good in a multilingual and digitally divided world? Too often our answers stay stuck in separate silos. Or they chase reforms that do not scale and lack the longevity to serve global majority audiences. We separate arts from sciences. Global North from Global South. Research from lived experience. And open education from other open movements like open source software, open data, open access and open science.We think democratising knowledge means bringing things together intentionally, and we would like to host a panel discussion on these lines. That means drawing on the philosophical and social foundations of the commons, from Elinor Ostrom's work on collective governance to contemporary critical thinking about knowledge as a shared and abundant resource. It also means paying attention to the symbiosis of arts and sciences, learning from the lived experiences of other open communities, and recognising curiosity as a real driver. Curiosity is what turns access into engagement and infrastructure into community.We are bringing together open source advocates, academicians and community builders from across these movements to ask a practical question. How might we build a shared agenda, and perhaps a shared space like a Digital Public Goods Lab, for multilingual open education that is grounded in ideas but also practical and genuinely curious?Our conversation will draw on real experiments. These include the Future of the Commons series, inspired by Ostrom, which runs monthly discussions on AI, archives and Indian languages. Also the Content Partnerships Hub. And recognised DPGs like Wikipedia and Wikidata, which we see as useful examples rather than the main story.We will focus on three questions.First, what philosophical and social frameworks can help us understand knowledge democratisation beyond technical or bureaucratic approaches? Second, how have other open movements navigated barriers of language, power and participation, and what can open education learn from their lived experiences? Third, what would a Digital Public Goods Lab look like if it bridged open knowledge and open education, placed arts and sciences alongside each other, treated curiosity as a design principle, and served marginalised language communities in the Global South?The session will end with audience Q&A and an invitation to join a shared online workspace. The goal is to move from conversation to collective action.

Speakers

Tanveer Hasan

International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad

Tanveer Hasan – Works at the intersection of digital commons, open knowledge and multilingual open education. Convenor of the Future of the Commons series, an informal collective inspired by Elinor Ostrom that runs monthly discussions on AI, archives and Indian languages. Currently... Read More →

Vasudeva Varma

Professor, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad

Professor at IIIT Hyderabad, specialising in information retrieval, language technologies and AI. Works on making AI and digital infrastructure accessible for Indian languages and marginalised communities in the Global South. Advises on DPG policy and open knowledge initiatives.

Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:35am EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

Panel

Speaker Modality In-person
Track Hacking the Open Ecosystem and Praxis for the Public Good

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OEGlobal 2026

Tanveer Hasan

Vasudeva Varma

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OEGlobal 2026

Tanveer Hasan

Vasudeva Varma

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