Santa Clara University

Conference Topics

First Panel – Developing a Knowledge Commons

How is knowledge being shared today?  What are the broad policy dimensions and what needs to change in order for a knowledge commons to emerge?

The information revolution is meaningless if it is not backed by the ability to judiciously process the vast amount of information being produced.  This panel poses the question of how skills and knowledge are being shared globally today, and what the best practices are for ensuring the formation of a global learning community.

• Lead Speaker: John Staudenmaier, S.J. Visiting Professor, Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Professor of history at University of Detroit Mercy, and editor of Technology and Culture.
• Karen Delgadillo, Executive Director, Chsaquinet Foundation, Ecuador
• Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago

Second Panel – Institutional Frameworks for Global Knowledge

What are useful institutional frameworks for sharing knowledge that can contribute to social justice? To what extent is scientific and technical knowledge a public good?

Addressing our key social and political concerns entails sharing information, knowledge and expertise across national, cultural and organizational boundaries.  This panel addresses some best-case practices, and visions for the future from academic and industrial leaders.

Third Panel – Legal and Economic Frameworks for Global Knowledge

What sorts of legal and regulatory regimes can we imagine that would prevent widening the rift between the knowledge rich and the knowledge poor?

While people may agree that knowledge sharing is key to our survival as a species, and to our continued growth to a just and equitable global culture, it is not clear how to balance these public needs and the private sphere.  This panel brings together some leading thinkers and actors in the field of knowledge sharing around this issue.

Fourth Panel – Infrastructural Frameworks for Global Knowledge

What can leaders in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, with their wealth of organizational acumen and technical invention, do to help address these issues?

While visions of the future of the Internet range vastly, few doubt that the ability to collaborate effectively at a distance drawing on extensive databases on the one hand and diverse skill sets on the other is central.  This panel opens up the question of what technical and business practice innovations are in the pipeline, which will foster that ability.