Case Studies

• Digital Businesses
• Nations and Regions
• Business, Government and Civil Society Collaboration

Case studies of Digital Businesses

OE case studies of businesses provide a unique vantage point for understanding the issues confronting digital entrepreneurs — and for creating open, general solutions to be shared by all. Recent cases include:

• OneWorld (www.oneworld.net) Open Knowledge Network. OneWorld sees local information as a key catalyst for development and is concerned at the increasing privatisation of knowledge. Their philosophy aims to make information as widely available as possible, but within a self-sustaining context of entrepreneurship which provides incentives for knowledge to be produced and then disseminated as widely as possible, and for local people to share in the resulting benefits.
• The pilot for the Network is being undertaken in the Pondicherry region of India. This builds on the extensive experience of the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation to test the ideas developed in a real-world setting.
• Staff and fellows of Open Economies, in collaboration with others from the Berkman Center, are providing legal and business advice to the project, focusing on issues around open knowledge exchanges and ownership of intellectual property.
  

Case studies of Nations and Regions

OE case studies of national and regional policy initiatives provide a unique understanding of the issues confronting policy makers and those seeking to influence policy, legal, regulatory and fiscal conditions. Recent cases include:

• A joint proposal with Bridges.org at the World Economic Forum meeting in February 2002 for collaborative policy development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The proposal combines the field-oriented work of Bridges (which has an office in South Africa) with OE's ICT policy expertise and research capabilities. The proposal may be expanded to cover the countries involved in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
• OE has initiated a case study of Ghana, focusing on reviewing their recently developed IT Policy Framework, as well as working closely with local entrepreneurs and others involved in the policy dialogue.

Business, Government and Civil Society Collaboration

• Open Economies is a project of the G-8 Digital Opportunity Task Force, and is a participant in the United Nations ICT Task Force. We are also involved in the World Economic Forum Digital Divide Task Force, and the UNDP/Markle Global Digital Opportunity Initiative.
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is providing pro bono services to OE as part of our effort to create legal and regulatory solutions for businesses and governments. OE will have a critical role in the New Non-Profit Organization (NNPO) being formed by Accenture, Hewlett Packard/OE and Telesystem under the auspices of the G8 DOT Force (Action Point 4).
• OE will be integral to the NNPO, providing policy advice to governments and policy-makers and facilitating the formation of networks of local small and medium-sized businesses.
• We are forming a network of attorneys and IT business executives from around the world to engage in the policy making process.