Governing Knowledge Commons: Applications of an Open Knowledge Broker in Caribbean Disaster Management

Abstract

This paper is based on research conducted as an initiative under the Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network (OCSDNet) to explore new innovative mechanisms that can enhance collaborative disaster recovery planning, knowledge management, and learning in the Caribbean. The need for enhanced knowledge management to mitigate disaster risk through the sharing of information and knowledge is a strategic imperative of the Caribbean Disaster Management community. We employ a preliminary conceptual application of the Knowledge Commons/IAD Framework to illustrate how this kind of institutional analytic process can illuminate and inform strategy, governance and desirable collective action, as well as the merits of alternative enabling technologies. The study contributes to arguments challenging the neutrality of infrastructure for collective action. It highlights the importance, and perhaps imperative, of an institutional approach to the design and implementation of socio-technical systems.