Google is investing $2.25M to improve Africa’s public data systems, building an AI-ready Data Commons and supporting AI training for national statistical offices in Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal. The upgrade aims to boost data accessibility, government decision-making, and AI-driven development, strengthening Google’s broader Africa AI strategy.

#Google #Africa #AI #DataCommons #PublicData #DigitalDevelopment #TechInvestment #PARIS21 #TECHi

Read Full Article Here :- https://www.techi.com/google-2-25-million-ai-ready-public-data-africa/

Data Commons Announces Comprehensive Update to Charts Across Platform https://www.infodocket.com/2025/10/16/data-commons-announces-comprehensive-update-to-charts-across-platform/ #datacommons #researchtools

구글이 AI 환각을 잡는 새로운 무기를 공개했다 – Data Commons MCP Server

https://aisparkup.com/posts/5152

Biodiversity monitoring: Data from wildlife camera traps to the Atlas of Living Australia

"The Wildlife Observatory of Australia
(WildObs) is a national initiative transforming how Australia collects, processes, and shares data from wildlife camera traps. It brings together artificial intelligence, field monitoring standards, and open data infrastructure to create an end-to-end platform that supports large-scale biodiversity monitoring and ecological research. By streamlining the management of camera trap data—from image collection to analysis—WildObs aims to improve the consistency, accessibility, and scientific value of this rapidly growing data source." >>
https://collections.ala.org.au/public/show/dp5214

A new dataset sees verified images from wildlife camera traps available in the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA).>>
https://www.ala.org.au/blogs-news/from-snapshot-to-supercharged-science-data/
#biodiversity #wildllife #atlaslivingaust #WildObs #WildlifeCam #TheAtlasOfLivingAustralia #GoFetchMyData #DataCommons

(5) #DataCooperatives = a pathway to democratize #AI. They empower citizens to be data stakeholders, not just data subjects.
#DataCommons #UrbanAI #GenAI #Cooperatives

(5) #DataCooperatives = a pathway to democratize #AI. They empower citizens to be data stakeholders, not just data subjects.
#DataCommons #UrbanAI #GenAI #Cooperatives

"The Report

The EuroStack: Europe Innovating on Its Own Terms

EuroStack is our rallying cry to shape Europe’s digital destiny. By prioritizing strategic autonomy and harnessing breakthrough tech—AI, chips, quantum computing, advanced cloud solutions—we’re preparing Europe for tomorrow’s challenges and new opportunities.

It’s time to build a digital future that mirrors our democratic values, economic ambitions, and environmental commitments.

Seize the Opportunity

EuroStack isn’t about idealism—it’s hard realism. The alternative? A Europe reduced to digital colonialism, with industries hollowed out, citizens under foreign surveillance, and climate goals held hostage by monopolies.

We have the tools, we have the talent. Now we need the will to innovate on our own terms.""

https://www.euro-stack.info/

#EU #EuroStack #Europe #DigitalSovereignty #OpenSource #FLOSS #DataCommons #SovereignCloud

It was a real pleasure to speak at SPUI25 in Amsterdam alongside the authors of a really great report (https://lnkd.in/dQqRw_e5 ). Nice train journey, cool venue, great audience & a wonderful group of academics I was lucky to meet or reconnect with. Watch it here 👇

https://spui25.nl/programma/unlocking-green-deal-data

#datagovernance #datacommons

Proud to have contributed to:

How Can #DataCooperatives Help Build a Fair #DataEconomy?

#Report
https://www.projectliberty.io/news/how-can-data-cooperatives-help-build-a-fair-data-economy/

#Article
https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/4/3/62

#Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTT0tCix43E

Looking ahead to impactful dialogues in #WashingtonDC this April!

#DataTrusts #DataCommons #DataCooperatives

@geography @economics @politicalscience @politicaltheory @anthropology @sociology

In an era of unprecedented challenges, from #ClimateChange to global inequality, the data held by #CivilSociety organizations is more vital than ever.

Read more to discover how #NonprofitOrganizations are unlocking the power of #nonprofit data through #DataCommons: http://spr.ly/6041sDDTX

#NPData #Data4Good #Nonprofits

📃 We are happy to publicly announce our new project with CIS/CNRS: "From Open Data to Sustainable Data Commons"

🤗 Together with our communities, we want to build better governance mechanisms and legal tools to develop and maintain the #datacommons.

👉🏾 https://okfn.org/en/projects/sustainable-data-commons/

Mark your calendars for Dr. Samapriya Roy's talk on 14 June at 3-4pm UTC+2 at the next #EarthEngineUserMeetup!

🏗️ Building Google #EarthEngine Community Catalog & Community #DataCommons

Register today: https://buytickets.at/thrivegeo/1270560/r/fosstodon

#eochat #data

Interesting data from a new edition of the Foundation Model Transaprency Index - collected six months after the initial index was released.

Overall, there's big improvement, with average score jumping from 37 to 58 point (out of a 100). That's a lot!

The interesting fact is that researchers contacted developers and solicited data - interactions count.

More importantly, there is little improvement, and little overall transparency in a category that researchers describe as "upstream": on data, labour and compute that goes into training. And "data access" gets the lowest score of all the parameters.

More at Tech Policy Press: https://www.techpolicy.press/the-foundation-model-transparency-index-what-changed-in-6-months/

#datacommons #aicommons #datagovernance #aigovernance #ai

#AI #GenerativeAI #AITraining #Copyright #FairUse #IP #DataCommons #Books: "This paper is a snapshot of an idea that is as underexplored as it is rooted in decades of existing work. The concept of mass digitization of books, including to support text and data mining, of which AI is a subset, is not new. But AI training is newly of the zeitgeist, and its transformative use makes questions about how we digitize, preserve, and make accessible knowledge and cultural heritage salient in a distinct way.

As such, efforts to build a books data commons need not start from scratch; there is much to glean from studying and engaging existing and previous efforts. Those learnings might inform substantive decisions about how to build a books data commons for AI training. For instance, looking at the design decisions of HathiTrust may inform how the technical infrastructure and data management practices for AI training might be designed, as well as how to address challenges to building a comprehensive, diverse, and useful corpus. In addition, learnings might inform the process by which we get to a books data commons — for example, illustrating ways to attend to the interests of those likely to be impacted by the dataset’s development." https://openfuture.pubpub.org/pub/towards-a-book-data-commons-for-ai-training/release/1

Open Future's newest white paper, authored by @zwarso and myself, addresses the governance of data sets used for #AI training.

Over the past two years, it has become evident that shared datasets are necessary to create a level playing field and support AI solutions in the public interest. Without these shared datasets, companies with vast proprietary data reserves will always have the winning hand.

However, data sharing in the era of AI poses new challenges. Thus, we need to build upon established methods like #opendata refining them and integrating innovative ideas for data governance.

Our white paper proposes that data sets should be governed as commons, shared and responsibly managed collectively. We outline six principles for commons-based governance, complemented by real-life examples of these principles in action.

https://openfuture.eu/publication/commons-based-data-set-governance-for-ai/

#aicommons #datacommons #commons #opensource

We're excited about the new "How to Build a Data Cooperative" handbook draft that @opendatamcr's Data Cooperative Working Group has published! We commend the effort and hope to see more data co-ops emerge as a result.

Check it out here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1attkWxJCdn1YCl3Rvb_PPsmG8b0BYvZj5rlPbvmhAfM/edit

#coop #datacoop #datacommons #solidarityeconomy

Ongoing technical and grassroots domain-specific #community support is crucial to moving #openData to #reusableData. How to do this within the current academic funding/rewards model is non-trivial and challenging. But developing a #dataCommons where we can draw on our rich history of digitized data promises to accelerate future scientific discovery. 24/24

10 days remain to sign the Cooperative Digital Infrastructure Manifesto! We've received signatures from groups all throughout the international solidarity economy, including Mondragon University's Team Academy. Help us to advocate for digital tools and policies that will support a robust and fair economy - add your signature by 12/31!

To sign, visit: https://datacommons.coop/cooperative-digital-infrastructure-manifesto/

#data #datacommons #cooperatives #solidarity #solidarityeconomy #MondragonUniversity

I participated yesterday in an expert workshop on Public-Private Partnerships in Global Data Governance, organized by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

I was also invited to prepare a policy brief that presented how the Public Data Commons model, which we have been advocating for, could be applied at global level for dealing with emergencies, and the broader poly-crisis.

It is exciting to see UNU explore data sharing policies within the context of the policy debate on the UN Global Digital Compact.

Worth noting is also the recent report of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, "A Breakthrough for People and Planet". One of the transofrmative shifts, "the just digital transition", includes a recommendation for a global data impact hub.

In my brief, I show how this impact hub could be designed as a Public Data Commons. I also highly recommend other briefs presented at the event, by Alex Novikau, Isabel Rocha de Siqueira, Michael Stampfer and Stefaan Verhulst.

#aicommons #datacommons #datagovernance #ai

You can find the report and all the briefs on the UNU webpage: https://unu.edu/cpr/project/breakthrough-people-and-planet

In a month (7-8 December) I will be speaking at a conference on data governance and AI, organized in Washington, DC by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub. I am excited about this for two reasons:

first of all, we need to connect the policy debates on data governance and AI governance. The space of AI development offers new opportunities to develop, at scale, commons-based approaches that have been much theorized and advocated for, but not yet implemented.

and secondly, I am a deep believer in dialogue between the US and the EU. US is leading in terms of AI development itself, while EU will most probably be the first country to innovate in terms of AI regulation.

Please consider joining, either in-person or remotely (it's a hybrid event).

#aicommons #datacommons #datagovernance #ai

https://www.linkedin.com/events/datagovernanceintheageofgenerat7127306901125521408/comments/