On 14 July 2011 23:33, Nathan nawrich@gmail.com wrote:
I can envision something like an Open Knowledge Project or some other umbrella initiative, aimed at forging links between like-minded organizations who wish to associate without losing independence or explicitly taking responsibility for the work of others. It could be set up pretty simply:
- Establish the fundamentals of a broader identity with a statement of
shared values and a general intent to cooperate in the world
- Host a portal to communicate broadly common goals and and provide
information to both prospective colleagues and the general public
- Arrange formal and informal opportunities to create collaborative
ties between people and organizations and to develop a sense of shared purpose
If you could get to that point growth would be pretty organic; participants would suggest mutually agreeable and beneficial goals and initiatives to be undertaken as a group, such undertakings would drive closer cooperation and legitimate the concept of a free content / open knowledge movement, and so on.
Organizations like PLoS, FSF, Creative Commons, the EFF, Wikimedia and others have naturally overlapping interests and philosophies. It would only make sense for those organizations, and the many smaller ones who share their broad values, to cooperate as a group in a more formal way than I believe they do currently.
I think this is a good idea (and better than trying to get all Free Content/Open Knowledge/etc. people to badge themselves as somehow part of our Wikimedia Movement, which though (hopefully!) welcoming and inclusive is not as wide as the whole topic.
I'd note that there is of course the excellent Open Knowledge Definition[0], penned in part by our very own Erik Möller, which gave rise to the Open Knowledge Foundation[1]. Perhaps working with them on this might be a good move?
[0] - opendefinition.org [1] - okfn.org
J.