I shape ideas about technology innovation, intellectual property, and global trade & development. I am a Full Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, as well as a practicing lawyer and expert consultant.
Find me and all of my scholarship online at www.JeremydeBeer.ca.
The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about globa... more The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about global access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. What does the digitization of biological information imply for genetic resources of proven and potential value? What implications does digital sequence information (DSI) have for individuals and groups, who have invested time and effort in augmenting and refining valuable characteristics in genetic resources? Stakeholders discussing this issue in various international fora unanimously acknowledge there are currently more questions than answers. Online digital publicly accessible resources represent a transformative technological shift, resulting in intellectual property governance gaps. This article provides interdisciplinary perspectives on options available to governments to continue advancing the goals of ABS, when physical access to genetic resources is no longer needed because DSI is readily accessible. It envisions four governance scenarios.
This article explores the current modalities at play in respect of institutionalisation and infor... more This article explores the current modalities at play in respect of institutionalisation and informal innovation within maker communities in South Africa. A national scan in 2016-17 generated data on more than 20 maker communities across South Africa. The data provide insights into a number of management, spatial and activity variables: institutionalisation and informal innovation. Institutionalisation is conceptualised as resulting in, and from: (1) formalisation of maker communities' practices; (2) partnerships between maker communities and formal organisations; and (3) embedding of maker communities in formal organisations. Informal innovation is conceptualised as manifesting in: (1) constraint-based innovation; (2) incremental innovation; (3) collaborative innovation; (4) informal approaches to knowledge appropriation; and (5) innovation in informal networks/communities in informal settings. Our data show that since the emergence of the maker movement in South Africa in roughly 2011, there has been an increase in institutionlisation of, and within, maker communities. At the same time, we find that there continues to be a strong spirit of informality in the communities, with most of the communities, including the relatively more-institutionlised ones, actively seeking to preserve emphasis on informal-innovation modalities. Our conclusion is that, in the present stage of evolution of the South African maker movement, elements of institutionlisation appear to be largely offering synergies, rather than tensions, with the ethos of informal innovation. Such synergies are allowing South African maker communities to play an intermediary, semi-formal role, as mediating entities between formal and informal elements of the country's innovation ecosystem.
In this article, we examine the development of biohacker spaces and their impact on innovation sy... more In this article, we examine the development of biohacker spaces and their impact on innovation systems through the lens of inclusive innovation. Examining issues associated with people, activities, outcomes, and governance, we observe that biohacker spaces offer an alternative approach to biotechnological research outside the orthodox walls of academia, industry, and government. We explain that harnessing the full innovative potential of these spaces depends on flexible legal and regulatory systems, including appropriate biosafety regulations and intellectual property policies and practices, and organic, community-based social and financial networking.
This article addresses overlaps between patents and plant breeders' rights. To do so, it examines... more This article addresses overlaps between patents and plant breeders' rights. To do so, it examines language that judges in the United States and Canada have used in deciding whether to allow cumulative protection for the same subject-matter by both kinds of intellectual property rights. Distilling the core arguments from a series of judgments during the last four decades, the article explains three themes underpinning the case law on overlaps among patents and plant breeders' rights. Majority and dissenting opinions consider overlaps in terms of: the adequacy of incentives, the potential for inconsistency, and/or the historical logic of legislative drafting. These considerations may determine the outcome of future cases in which overlapping protection is at issue. _________________________ Dans cet article, l'auteur traite des chevauchements entre les brevets et la protection des obtentions ve´ge´tales. Pour ce faire, il examine le langage utilise´par les juges aux E´tats-Unis et au Canada au moment de de´cider s'il y a lieu d'autoriser que le meˆme objet reç oive une protection cumulative en vertu des deux types de droits de proprie´te´intellectuelle. Re´sumant les principaux arguments d'une se´rie d'arreˆts rendus au cours des quatre dernie`res de´cennies, l'auteur explique trois the`mes qui sous-tendent la jurisprudence sur les chevauchements entre les brevets et la protection des obtentions ve´ge´tales. La majorite´et les opinions dissidentes conside`rent les chevauchements en ce qui concerne l'ade´quation des mesures incitatives, du risque d'incohe´rence et de la logique historique de la re´daction le´gislative. Ces conside´rations peuvent de´terminer le re´sultat d'affaires futures dans lesquelles le chevauchement de la protection est en cause.
Les Nouvelles - Journal of Licensing Executives Society International, 2019
As in other nations, knowledge transfer is central to the policy objectives of African countries.... more As in other nations, knowledge transfer is central to the policy objectives of African countries. To this end, intellectual property (IP) is often mentioned as a strategy intended to facilitate the production and transfer of knowledge. As Africa is an enormous and diverse place, it is unwise to overgeneralize the situation across the continent. Nor is it practicable to canvass the practice in the continent within this piece. Hence, we have chosen Botswana as an illustrative country in Africa to examine IP’s relevance for knowledge creation and transfer between universities and industries. Given the major similarities in the situations of most universities in Africa and the limited role of IP for their contribution, our choice of Botswana is intended to reflect the dominant practice across most countries in the continent. Further, our analysis builds upon a prior study that explores the relevance of IP for universities in the country under consideration. Taking into account the contexts for collaborative innovation and knowledge transfer through the active role of universities, this article seeks to highlight Botswanan universities’ contribution to the stock of knowledge, the university-industry linkage for the knowledge transfer and the mode of the linkage in the country. In view of the analysis, the article concludes with relevant policy recommendations, including strategies for open collaborative innovation through university/industry partnerships.
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada , 2017
Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an exciting technology with the potential to provide a va... more Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an exciting technology with the potential to provide a variety of clinical benefits, including a reduction in miscarriages, via a decline in invasive testing. However, there is also concern that the economic and near-future clinical benefits of NIPT have been overstated and the potential limitations and harms underplayed. NIPT, therefore, presents an opportunity to explore the ways in which a range of social pressures and policies can influence the translation, implementation, and use of a health care innovation. NIPT is often framed as a potential first tier screen that should be offered to all pregnant women, despite concerns over cost-effectiveness. Multiple forces have contributed to a problematic translational environment in Canada, creating pressure towards first tier implementation. Governments have contributed to commercialization pressure by framing the publicly funded research sector as a potential engine of economic growth. Members of industry have an incentive to frame clinical value as beneficial to the broadest possible cohort in order to maximize market size. Many studies of NIPT were directly funded and performed by private industry in laboratories lacking strong independent oversight. Physicians' fear of potential liability for failing to recommend NIPT may further drive widespread uptake. Broad social endorsement, when combined with these translation pressures, could result in the "routinization" of NIPT, thereby adversely affecting women's reproductive autonomy. Policymakers should demand robust independent evidence of clinical and public health utility relevant to their respective jurisdictions before making decisions regarding public funding for NIPT.
This chapter analyzes the multi-level, networked governance of biofuels by surveying a wide varie... more This chapter analyzes the multi-level, networked governance of biofuels by surveying a wide variety of legal regulatory measures, including domestic laws and public policies, private intellectual property rights and international trade rules.
Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition, 2018
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being used across the world to generate effi... more Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being used across the world to generate efficiency gains for farmers. This has led to an information and data explosion with an associated boom in new applications, tools, actors, business models, and entire industries. Agrifood systems are being transformed.
DATA-DRIVEN AGRICULTURE – OPPORTUNITIES FOR FARMERS
Beyond the technological developments, data – on, by, of and for farmers and their products – has become a growth area, driving expectations and investments in big data, blockchain technology, precision agriculture, farmer profiling and e-extension. Investing in data-driven agriculture is expected to increase agricultural production and productivity, help adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change, bring about more economic and efficient use of natural resources, reduce risk and improve resilience in farming, and make agri-food market chains much more efficient. Ultimately, it will contribute to worldwide food and nutrition security. Data-driven agriculture uses big data to supplement on-farm precision agriculture – using the right farm data, at the right time and in the right formats to make better decisions. It is already being applied, big time, in many developed countries and market-oriented agri-food chains. It is being tested in many developing countries to see where data yields can be highest.
ACCESS AND SHARING – TWO MAJOR CHALLENGES
Data-driven digital agriculture offers many opportunities across the sector. It is not, however, a panacea, especially for developing-country smallholders who must overcome challenges and risks to ensure that digital investments generate dividends. For the smallholders, the two main challenges are, first, to gain access to relevant data and services provided by others and, second, to make sure that any data they share does not actually weaken their positions.
FOUR STREAMS OF DATA – BY AND FOR FARMERS
Four streams of data that farmers typically use (access or share) are identified: The first stream is ‘localized’ data Executive Summary generated and collated on the farm for use only on the farm. The second stream is ‘imported’ data generated and collated off the farm, for use on the farm. The third stream is ‘exported’ data generated and collated on the farm for use off the farm. The fourth stream is ‘ancillary’ data generated and collated (on and) off the farm, mainly for use off the farm. The opportunities, challenges and risks for farmers are different in each stream. Localized and imported data, when clearly focused to on-farm situations underpin and drive good decision making on farms. From a farmer perspective, data shared (exported) by farmers locally and globally should provide ‘win-win’ results in terms of more relevant services and products (from forecasts to logistics to advice) they a farmer can access. ‘Localized’ and ‘ancillary’ data streams don’t present special access challenges to farmers as they are either completely inside the farm or completely outside. ‘Imported’ data presents all the challenges of availability, accessibility and usability, with data and services offered needing to be adjusted to what farmers need and can handle. ‘Exported’ data streams present all the risks and benefits around sharing, with added safeguards necessary to avoid exploitation of what the farmers share.
DATA INTERMEDIARIES AND INTEGRATION
The providers, enablers and handlers of data-driven services for and with farmers are critical actors in agri-food data systems. They find and transform raw data into actionable information and decision-making tools. They need to know the real needs of the farmers on the one hand and to find and understand the necessary data on the other. They must understand the standards, formats and licenses as well as the data collection practices including measurements and biases and make it useful. They need to win the trust of data providers and users, safeguarding ownership and striving for equitable access. Data standardization is one of the biggest challenges these data intermediaries face and different pathways to developing standards can be followed.
CHALLENGES FOR SMALLHOLDERS
Smallholders are tough to reach and thus many initial data service offerings have been designed for larger and more commercial operations. Following a ‘bottom of the pyramid’ logic, smallholders have much to offer any service providers and intermediaries like farmer organizations who are able to design and deliver data-driven services at large scale. Smallholders also have much to gain from data – small improvements in their operations are likely to provide larger gains at household level, proportionally, and, if the improvements are widely adopted, the whole agricultural sector in many countries that depend on smallholder agri-food systems can be transformed. However, for smallholders to benefit from data-driven agriculture, tools and applications need to be designed for their specific situations and capacities; they – and the organizations that support them – need to grow their capacities to become smart data users and managers; measures are needed to ensure that farmer-generated data is not exploited or misused; and smallholders, usually the least powerful parts of a value chain, must grasp every opportunity to be included in the collective data flows within agri-food systems.
FACILITATING DATA USE BY SMALLHOLDERS – DRIVERS FOR CHANGE
Data-driven agriculture offers opportunities and poses threats to smallholder farmers. Making data-driven agriculture smallholder-friendly should be guided by two sets of drivers. Important agri-food system drivers that determine the effectiveness of data-driven improvements that need to be tackled include: developing appropriate policies and related institutions and structures; devising incentives that deliver benefits to smallholders; developing capacities of farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs and institutional capacities to manage support systems for data and information sharing and exchange; extending the availability and affordability of hardware, software and data; developing needs-based data and software; and providing necessary infrastructure and connectivity within the reach of smallholders. Important data system drivers that need to be factored into investments in this area include: developing ‘apps’ for farmers that enable localized and specific solutions; using open agricultural data and standards that facilitate transparent, equitable and wide use and re-use of data; using ICTs and data to create jobs and make agriculture attractive to young people; investing in new data handling technical developments like big data, blockchain and Internet of Things that will make data value chains more powerful and transparent; strengthening institutions that enable equitable governance of data, locally to globally; and promoting joint actions on data by smallholders and their representatives through farmer organizations, cooperatives, associations, enterprises, etc.
DEVELOPING SMALLHOLDER-FRIENDLY DATA ECOSYSTEMS
The final section of the paper presents three priority actions to help develop a data ecosystem to support smallholders. • First, farmer data and services based around data should be aggregated through joint action that empowers and gives voice to farmers; • Second, trust centers, platforms and mechanisms that enable open data sharing should be established at different levels; • Third, international agreements to facilitate data access, ownership and flows should be developed. While many different actors need to be involved in these action areas, there are especially clear and present opportunities for groups (associations, federations, cooperatives, social enterprises, etc.) that represent and aggregate smallholders to step up their digital investments and capabilities so their members can grasp the opportunities offered by data-driven agriculture.
The Cambridge Handbook of Public-Private Partnerships, Intellectual Property Governance, and Sustainable Development, 2018
This chapter examines the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-r... more This chapter examines the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-regional research platform. It links empirical and theoretical perspectives on PPPs to the key operational elements of Open AIR, including its core driving factors relevant to the development gap associated with IP and knowledge governance in Africa. In this regard, the chapter finds that insights from Open AIR’s construct and research findings, which flow from its activities as a research-driven rather than a product-driven initiative, can shine light on how PPPs (or cross-sector partnerships in general) can be better exploited and reengineered beyond their current and ad hoc interventionist outlook, in order to make them serve as effective sustainable development vehicles. The chapter begins with a contextualization of PPPs in global governance generally and their evolution within sustainable development efforts. It then introduces Open AIR. The following section links various elements of Open AIR to potential characteristics of PPPs, emphasizing six features that have resulted in successful interventions: Cross-sector representation; novel approaches to problem-solving; cross-regional approaches; complex methods; networking of networks; interdisciplinary analysis; and a shared vision. The chapter then discusses the nexus of partnerships such as Open AIR to sustainable development, and reflects on policy ramifications, practical lessons, and limitations of the cross-regional research partnership model applicable to development PPPs.
The Government of Canada has taken significant steps towards legalizing the consumption of cannab... more The Government of Canada has taken significant steps towards legalizing the consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes, in particular by tabling the Cannabis Act. Going forward, the recreational cannabis industry promises to be lucrative, and among the best ways to capitalize on this economic potential is with exclusive intellectual property rights (IPRs). Like other cash crops, the uptake of IPRs in cannabis may encourage a commodity-based agroindustry with a few large companies leading the market. However, the legal, scientific, and economic particularities surrounding IPRs in recreational cannabis may instead foster a craft cannabis industry, with many small-scale or artisan businesses. Either way, Canada’s recreational cannabis industry will influence and be influenced by the uptake of IPRs for cannabis and cannabis business.
Following an introduction in Part I, Part II of this article explores Canada’s new legal framework for the recreational cannabis market in light of the current political and legal environment. Part III surveys intellectual property regimes that may be most relevant to recreational cannabis, including plant breeders’ rights, patents, and trademarks. Part IV superimposes these regimes to reveal the issues likely to shape this industry. We consider legal- scientific issues, such as whether it is technically feasible to breed cannabis with protectable traits. And, we consider legal-commercial issues, such as whether restrictions on cannabis- related advertising might impact the use of cannabis trademarks.
We conclude, in Part V, that the use of IPRs to control the breeding, production, and distribution of recreational cannabis could lead to two plausible scenarios. A craft-based industry would have little use for patents or plant breeders’ rights, instead using trademarks to provide quality assurance in a market with simple and direct supply chains. A commodity-based industry would rely more heavily on patents and plant breeders’ rights to protect significant investments in cannabis breeding, and likely see separation between the roles of breeders and growers. We anticipate seeing elements of both markets in the near future. In the longer term, which type of cannabis industry materializes will depend, in part, on answers to the key legal questions we raise in this article.
"Ownership rights are a major factor in access and use of open data, distinct from yet as importa... more "Ownership rights are a major factor in access and use of open data, distinct from yet as important as the availability of education, skills, technology, infrastructure, and finances. There are real deficits in law, understanding, and frameworks for governing open data ownership. These challenges must be addressed to achieve meaningful and equitable open data as default.
The chief policy lesson from this paper is that moving to a model where data is open as default requires change in legal, social and technological norms, which all influence ownership of agriculture and nutrition data. Copyrights are not the only, nor even most important, legal rights establishing ownership of data. Relevant legal rights that facilitate access to and use of data at the international, national and subnational level include copyrights, database rights, technical protection measures, trade secrets, and patents and plant breeders’ rights, privacy and even tangible property rights. The open data community must broaden its engagement in all these areas to address emerging challenges."
Tapping into the creativity of a crowd can provide a highly efficient and effective means of acqu... more Tapping into the creativity of a crowd can provide a highly efficient and effective means of acquiring ideas, work, and content to solve problems. But crowdsourcing solutions can also come with risks, including the legal risks associated with intellectual property. Therefore, we raise and address a two-part question: Why–—and how–—should organizations deal with intellectual property issues when engaging in the crowdsourcing of solutions? The answers lie in understanding the approaches for acquiring sufficient intellectual property from a crowd and limiting the risks of using that intellectual property. Herein, we discuss the hazards of not considering these legal issues and explain how managers can use appropriate terms and conditions to balance and mitigate the risks associated with soliciting solutions from a crowd. Based on differences in how organizations acquire intellectual property and limit associated risks, we identify and illustrate with examples four approaches for managing intellectual property (passive, possessive, persuasive, and prudent) when crowdsourcing solutions. We conclude with recommendations for how organizations should use and tailor the approaches in our framework to source intellectual property from a crowd.
We propose a ‘data commons’, formed through a licensing model that allows farmers to benefit from... more We propose a ‘data commons’, formed through a licensing model that allows farmers to benefit from the datasets to which they contribute. Agricultural data is globally recognized for its importance in addressing food insecurity. This data is generated and used by a value chain of contributors, collectors, and consumers. Our licensing model addresses the crisis caused by a lack of data ownership rights for contributor farmers. Using the IAD framework we consider five case studies. These studies explore how John Deere, Plantwise, and Abalobi license data collection and how Creative Commons and the Open Data Commons license data distribution. Supported by an independent organization, our license supports SME data collectors, who need sophisticated legal tools; contributors, who need engagement, privacy, control, and benefit sharing; and consumers who need open access. Market forces encourage participation in the data commons by granting users the ability to display a social certification mark.
To assist trade policymakers in the development of a framework, this paper explores IP issues, pe... more To assist trade policymakers in the development of a framework, this paper explores IP issues, perspectives, and priorities related to both the CFTA and PAIPO. It suggests that process and substance issues are each important to create fair and balanced IP systems on the continent that stimulate innovation, growth, and competition. To this end, the paper’s suggested framework draws significantly on the Max Planck Principles for Intellectual Property Provisions in Bilateral and Regional Agreements, (the Principles for IP Provisions, or just Principles) adapted for a distinctly African context.
Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important part of economic growth and human development. ... more Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important part of economic growth and human development. International commitments harmonized in intellectual property treaties exist in tension with local needs for flexibility. Using a novel data collection and visualization method, this paper tracks the adoption of IP treaties on the continent of Africa over a 130-year period from 1885-2015. Our analysis highlights empirical data at four distinct points in time coinciding with events in African and international IP law (1935, 1965, 1995, and 2015). We explore relevant historical and legal aspects of each period to assess the evolution of the IP treaty landscape in context. Our findings show that treaties now saturate the IP policy space throughout the continent, limiting the ability to locally tailor approaches to knowledge governance.
This article integrates the concepts of open innovation and open development. It extends the theo... more This article integrates the concepts of open innovation and open development. It extends the theory of open development beyond the field of information communications technology to address aspects of innovation systems more generally. It applies the concept of openness to innovation in practice across the domains of open science, open education, and open data. Creating a framework that is more integrated in theory and cross-cutting in practice creates new possibilities for interdisciplinary research and policy-relevant insights.
The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about globa... more The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about global access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. What does the digitization of biological information imply for genetic resources of proven and potential value? What implications does digital sequence information (DSI) have for individuals and groups, who have invested time and effort in augmenting and refining valuable characteristics in genetic resources? Stakeholders discussing this issue in various international fora unanimously acknowledge there are currently more questions than answers. Online digital publicly accessible resources represent a transformative technological shift, resulting in intellectual property governance gaps. This article provides interdisciplinary perspectives on options available to governments to continue advancing the goals of ABS, when physical access to genetic resources is no longer needed because DSI is readily accessible. It envisions four governance scenarios.
This article explores the current modalities at play in respect of institutionalisation and infor... more This article explores the current modalities at play in respect of institutionalisation and informal innovation within maker communities in South Africa. A national scan in 2016-17 generated data on more than 20 maker communities across South Africa. The data provide insights into a number of management, spatial and activity variables: institutionalisation and informal innovation. Institutionalisation is conceptualised as resulting in, and from: (1) formalisation of maker communities' practices; (2) partnerships between maker communities and formal organisations; and (3) embedding of maker communities in formal organisations. Informal innovation is conceptualised as manifesting in: (1) constraint-based innovation; (2) incremental innovation; (3) collaborative innovation; (4) informal approaches to knowledge appropriation; and (5) innovation in informal networks/communities in informal settings. Our data show that since the emergence of the maker movement in South Africa in roughly 2011, there has been an increase in institutionlisation of, and within, maker communities. At the same time, we find that there continues to be a strong spirit of informality in the communities, with most of the communities, including the relatively more-institutionlised ones, actively seeking to preserve emphasis on informal-innovation modalities. Our conclusion is that, in the present stage of evolution of the South African maker movement, elements of institutionlisation appear to be largely offering synergies, rather than tensions, with the ethos of informal innovation. Such synergies are allowing South African maker communities to play an intermediary, semi-formal role, as mediating entities between formal and informal elements of the country's innovation ecosystem.
In this article, we examine the development of biohacker spaces and their impact on innovation sy... more In this article, we examine the development of biohacker spaces and their impact on innovation systems through the lens of inclusive innovation. Examining issues associated with people, activities, outcomes, and governance, we observe that biohacker spaces offer an alternative approach to biotechnological research outside the orthodox walls of academia, industry, and government. We explain that harnessing the full innovative potential of these spaces depends on flexible legal and regulatory systems, including appropriate biosafety regulations and intellectual property policies and practices, and organic, community-based social and financial networking.
This article addresses overlaps between patents and plant breeders' rights. To do so, it examines... more This article addresses overlaps between patents and plant breeders' rights. To do so, it examines language that judges in the United States and Canada have used in deciding whether to allow cumulative protection for the same subject-matter by both kinds of intellectual property rights. Distilling the core arguments from a series of judgments during the last four decades, the article explains three themes underpinning the case law on overlaps among patents and plant breeders' rights. Majority and dissenting opinions consider overlaps in terms of: the adequacy of incentives, the potential for inconsistency, and/or the historical logic of legislative drafting. These considerations may determine the outcome of future cases in which overlapping protection is at issue. _________________________ Dans cet article, l'auteur traite des chevauchements entre les brevets et la protection des obtentions ve´ge´tales. Pour ce faire, il examine le langage utilise´par les juges aux E´tats-Unis et au Canada au moment de de´cider s'il y a lieu d'autoriser que le meˆme objet reç oive une protection cumulative en vertu des deux types de droits de proprie´te´intellectuelle. Re´sumant les principaux arguments d'une se´rie d'arreˆts rendus au cours des quatre dernie`res de´cennies, l'auteur explique trois the`mes qui sous-tendent la jurisprudence sur les chevauchements entre les brevets et la protection des obtentions ve´ge´tales. La majorite´et les opinions dissidentes conside`rent les chevauchements en ce qui concerne l'ade´quation des mesures incitatives, du risque d'incohe´rence et de la logique historique de la re´daction le´gislative. Ces conside´rations peuvent de´terminer le re´sultat d'affaires futures dans lesquelles le chevauchement de la protection est en cause.
Les Nouvelles - Journal of Licensing Executives Society International, 2019
As in other nations, knowledge transfer is central to the policy objectives of African countries.... more As in other nations, knowledge transfer is central to the policy objectives of African countries. To this end, intellectual property (IP) is often mentioned as a strategy intended to facilitate the production and transfer of knowledge. As Africa is an enormous and diverse place, it is unwise to overgeneralize the situation across the continent. Nor is it practicable to canvass the practice in the continent within this piece. Hence, we have chosen Botswana as an illustrative country in Africa to examine IP’s relevance for knowledge creation and transfer between universities and industries. Given the major similarities in the situations of most universities in Africa and the limited role of IP for their contribution, our choice of Botswana is intended to reflect the dominant practice across most countries in the continent. Further, our analysis builds upon a prior study that explores the relevance of IP for universities in the country under consideration. Taking into account the contexts for collaborative innovation and knowledge transfer through the active role of universities, this article seeks to highlight Botswanan universities’ contribution to the stock of knowledge, the university-industry linkage for the knowledge transfer and the mode of the linkage in the country. In view of the analysis, the article concludes with relevant policy recommendations, including strategies for open collaborative innovation through university/industry partnerships.
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada , 2017
Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an exciting technology with the potential to provide a va... more Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an exciting technology with the potential to provide a variety of clinical benefits, including a reduction in miscarriages, via a decline in invasive testing. However, there is also concern that the economic and near-future clinical benefits of NIPT have been overstated and the potential limitations and harms underplayed. NIPT, therefore, presents an opportunity to explore the ways in which a range of social pressures and policies can influence the translation, implementation, and use of a health care innovation. NIPT is often framed as a potential first tier screen that should be offered to all pregnant women, despite concerns over cost-effectiveness. Multiple forces have contributed to a problematic translational environment in Canada, creating pressure towards first tier implementation. Governments have contributed to commercialization pressure by framing the publicly funded research sector as a potential engine of economic growth. Members of industry have an incentive to frame clinical value as beneficial to the broadest possible cohort in order to maximize market size. Many studies of NIPT were directly funded and performed by private industry in laboratories lacking strong independent oversight. Physicians' fear of potential liability for failing to recommend NIPT may further drive widespread uptake. Broad social endorsement, when combined with these translation pressures, could result in the "routinization" of NIPT, thereby adversely affecting women's reproductive autonomy. Policymakers should demand robust independent evidence of clinical and public health utility relevant to their respective jurisdictions before making decisions regarding public funding for NIPT.
This chapter analyzes the multi-level, networked governance of biofuels by surveying a wide varie... more This chapter analyzes the multi-level, networked governance of biofuels by surveying a wide variety of legal regulatory measures, including domestic laws and public policies, private intellectual property rights and international trade rules.
Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition, 2018
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being used across the world to generate effi... more Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being used across the world to generate efficiency gains for farmers. This has led to an information and data explosion with an associated boom in new applications, tools, actors, business models, and entire industries. Agrifood systems are being transformed.
DATA-DRIVEN AGRICULTURE – OPPORTUNITIES FOR FARMERS
Beyond the technological developments, data – on, by, of and for farmers and their products – has become a growth area, driving expectations and investments in big data, blockchain technology, precision agriculture, farmer profiling and e-extension. Investing in data-driven agriculture is expected to increase agricultural production and productivity, help adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change, bring about more economic and efficient use of natural resources, reduce risk and improve resilience in farming, and make agri-food market chains much more efficient. Ultimately, it will contribute to worldwide food and nutrition security. Data-driven agriculture uses big data to supplement on-farm precision agriculture – using the right farm data, at the right time and in the right formats to make better decisions. It is already being applied, big time, in many developed countries and market-oriented agri-food chains. It is being tested in many developing countries to see where data yields can be highest.
ACCESS AND SHARING – TWO MAJOR CHALLENGES
Data-driven digital agriculture offers many opportunities across the sector. It is not, however, a panacea, especially for developing-country smallholders who must overcome challenges and risks to ensure that digital investments generate dividends. For the smallholders, the two main challenges are, first, to gain access to relevant data and services provided by others and, second, to make sure that any data they share does not actually weaken their positions.
FOUR STREAMS OF DATA – BY AND FOR FARMERS
Four streams of data that farmers typically use (access or share) are identified: The first stream is ‘localized’ data Executive Summary generated and collated on the farm for use only on the farm. The second stream is ‘imported’ data generated and collated off the farm, for use on the farm. The third stream is ‘exported’ data generated and collated on the farm for use off the farm. The fourth stream is ‘ancillary’ data generated and collated (on and) off the farm, mainly for use off the farm. The opportunities, challenges and risks for farmers are different in each stream. Localized and imported data, when clearly focused to on-farm situations underpin and drive good decision making on farms. From a farmer perspective, data shared (exported) by farmers locally and globally should provide ‘win-win’ results in terms of more relevant services and products (from forecasts to logistics to advice) they a farmer can access. ‘Localized’ and ‘ancillary’ data streams don’t present special access challenges to farmers as they are either completely inside the farm or completely outside. ‘Imported’ data presents all the challenges of availability, accessibility and usability, with data and services offered needing to be adjusted to what farmers need and can handle. ‘Exported’ data streams present all the risks and benefits around sharing, with added safeguards necessary to avoid exploitation of what the farmers share.
DATA INTERMEDIARIES AND INTEGRATION
The providers, enablers and handlers of data-driven services for and with farmers are critical actors in agri-food data systems. They find and transform raw data into actionable information and decision-making tools. They need to know the real needs of the farmers on the one hand and to find and understand the necessary data on the other. They must understand the standards, formats and licenses as well as the data collection practices including measurements and biases and make it useful. They need to win the trust of data providers and users, safeguarding ownership and striving for equitable access. Data standardization is one of the biggest challenges these data intermediaries face and different pathways to developing standards can be followed.
CHALLENGES FOR SMALLHOLDERS
Smallholders are tough to reach and thus many initial data service offerings have been designed for larger and more commercial operations. Following a ‘bottom of the pyramid’ logic, smallholders have much to offer any service providers and intermediaries like farmer organizations who are able to design and deliver data-driven services at large scale. Smallholders also have much to gain from data – small improvements in their operations are likely to provide larger gains at household level, proportionally, and, if the improvements are widely adopted, the whole agricultural sector in many countries that depend on smallholder agri-food systems can be transformed. However, for smallholders to benefit from data-driven agriculture, tools and applications need to be designed for their specific situations and capacities; they – and the organizations that support them – need to grow their capacities to become smart data users and managers; measures are needed to ensure that farmer-generated data is not exploited or misused; and smallholders, usually the least powerful parts of a value chain, must grasp every opportunity to be included in the collective data flows within agri-food systems.
FACILITATING DATA USE BY SMALLHOLDERS – DRIVERS FOR CHANGE
Data-driven agriculture offers opportunities and poses threats to smallholder farmers. Making data-driven agriculture smallholder-friendly should be guided by two sets of drivers. Important agri-food system drivers that determine the effectiveness of data-driven improvements that need to be tackled include: developing appropriate policies and related institutions and structures; devising incentives that deliver benefits to smallholders; developing capacities of farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs and institutional capacities to manage support systems for data and information sharing and exchange; extending the availability and affordability of hardware, software and data; developing needs-based data and software; and providing necessary infrastructure and connectivity within the reach of smallholders. Important data system drivers that need to be factored into investments in this area include: developing ‘apps’ for farmers that enable localized and specific solutions; using open agricultural data and standards that facilitate transparent, equitable and wide use and re-use of data; using ICTs and data to create jobs and make agriculture attractive to young people; investing in new data handling technical developments like big data, blockchain and Internet of Things that will make data value chains more powerful and transparent; strengthening institutions that enable equitable governance of data, locally to globally; and promoting joint actions on data by smallholders and their representatives through farmer organizations, cooperatives, associations, enterprises, etc.
DEVELOPING SMALLHOLDER-FRIENDLY DATA ECOSYSTEMS
The final section of the paper presents three priority actions to help develop a data ecosystem to support smallholders. • First, farmer data and services based around data should be aggregated through joint action that empowers and gives voice to farmers; • Second, trust centers, platforms and mechanisms that enable open data sharing should be established at different levels; • Third, international agreements to facilitate data access, ownership and flows should be developed. While many different actors need to be involved in these action areas, there are especially clear and present opportunities for groups (associations, federations, cooperatives, social enterprises, etc.) that represent and aggregate smallholders to step up their digital investments and capabilities so their members can grasp the opportunities offered by data-driven agriculture.
The Cambridge Handbook of Public-Private Partnerships, Intellectual Property Governance, and Sustainable Development, 2018
This chapter examines the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-r... more This chapter examines the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-regional research platform. It links empirical and theoretical perspectives on PPPs to the key operational elements of Open AIR, including its core driving factors relevant to the development gap associated with IP and knowledge governance in Africa. In this regard, the chapter finds that insights from Open AIR’s construct and research findings, which flow from its activities as a research-driven rather than a product-driven initiative, can shine light on how PPPs (or cross-sector partnerships in general) can be better exploited and reengineered beyond their current and ad hoc interventionist outlook, in order to make them serve as effective sustainable development vehicles. The chapter begins with a contextualization of PPPs in global governance generally and their evolution within sustainable development efforts. It then introduces Open AIR. The following section links various elements of Open AIR to potential characteristics of PPPs, emphasizing six features that have resulted in successful interventions: Cross-sector representation; novel approaches to problem-solving; cross-regional approaches; complex methods; networking of networks; interdisciplinary analysis; and a shared vision. The chapter then discusses the nexus of partnerships such as Open AIR to sustainable development, and reflects on policy ramifications, practical lessons, and limitations of the cross-regional research partnership model applicable to development PPPs.
The Government of Canada has taken significant steps towards legalizing the consumption of cannab... more The Government of Canada has taken significant steps towards legalizing the consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes, in particular by tabling the Cannabis Act. Going forward, the recreational cannabis industry promises to be lucrative, and among the best ways to capitalize on this economic potential is with exclusive intellectual property rights (IPRs). Like other cash crops, the uptake of IPRs in cannabis may encourage a commodity-based agroindustry with a few large companies leading the market. However, the legal, scientific, and economic particularities surrounding IPRs in recreational cannabis may instead foster a craft cannabis industry, with many small-scale or artisan businesses. Either way, Canada’s recreational cannabis industry will influence and be influenced by the uptake of IPRs for cannabis and cannabis business.
Following an introduction in Part I, Part II of this article explores Canada’s new legal framework for the recreational cannabis market in light of the current political and legal environment. Part III surveys intellectual property regimes that may be most relevant to recreational cannabis, including plant breeders’ rights, patents, and trademarks. Part IV superimposes these regimes to reveal the issues likely to shape this industry. We consider legal- scientific issues, such as whether it is technically feasible to breed cannabis with protectable traits. And, we consider legal-commercial issues, such as whether restrictions on cannabis- related advertising might impact the use of cannabis trademarks.
We conclude, in Part V, that the use of IPRs to control the breeding, production, and distribution of recreational cannabis could lead to two plausible scenarios. A craft-based industry would have little use for patents or plant breeders’ rights, instead using trademarks to provide quality assurance in a market with simple and direct supply chains. A commodity-based industry would rely more heavily on patents and plant breeders’ rights to protect significant investments in cannabis breeding, and likely see separation between the roles of breeders and growers. We anticipate seeing elements of both markets in the near future. In the longer term, which type of cannabis industry materializes will depend, in part, on answers to the key legal questions we raise in this article.
"Ownership rights are a major factor in access and use of open data, distinct from yet as importa... more "Ownership rights are a major factor in access and use of open data, distinct from yet as important as the availability of education, skills, technology, infrastructure, and finances. There are real deficits in law, understanding, and frameworks for governing open data ownership. These challenges must be addressed to achieve meaningful and equitable open data as default.
The chief policy lesson from this paper is that moving to a model where data is open as default requires change in legal, social and technological norms, which all influence ownership of agriculture and nutrition data. Copyrights are not the only, nor even most important, legal rights establishing ownership of data. Relevant legal rights that facilitate access to and use of data at the international, national and subnational level include copyrights, database rights, technical protection measures, trade secrets, and patents and plant breeders’ rights, privacy and even tangible property rights. The open data community must broaden its engagement in all these areas to address emerging challenges."
Tapping into the creativity of a crowd can provide a highly efficient and effective means of acqu... more Tapping into the creativity of a crowd can provide a highly efficient and effective means of acquiring ideas, work, and content to solve problems. But crowdsourcing solutions can also come with risks, including the legal risks associated with intellectual property. Therefore, we raise and address a two-part question: Why–—and how–—should organizations deal with intellectual property issues when engaging in the crowdsourcing of solutions? The answers lie in understanding the approaches for acquiring sufficient intellectual property from a crowd and limiting the risks of using that intellectual property. Herein, we discuss the hazards of not considering these legal issues and explain how managers can use appropriate terms and conditions to balance and mitigate the risks associated with soliciting solutions from a crowd. Based on differences in how organizations acquire intellectual property and limit associated risks, we identify and illustrate with examples four approaches for managing intellectual property (passive, possessive, persuasive, and prudent) when crowdsourcing solutions. We conclude with recommendations for how organizations should use and tailor the approaches in our framework to source intellectual property from a crowd.
We propose a ‘data commons’, formed through a licensing model that allows farmers to benefit from... more We propose a ‘data commons’, formed through a licensing model that allows farmers to benefit from the datasets to which they contribute. Agricultural data is globally recognized for its importance in addressing food insecurity. This data is generated and used by a value chain of contributors, collectors, and consumers. Our licensing model addresses the crisis caused by a lack of data ownership rights for contributor farmers. Using the IAD framework we consider five case studies. These studies explore how John Deere, Plantwise, and Abalobi license data collection and how Creative Commons and the Open Data Commons license data distribution. Supported by an independent organization, our license supports SME data collectors, who need sophisticated legal tools; contributors, who need engagement, privacy, control, and benefit sharing; and consumers who need open access. Market forces encourage participation in the data commons by granting users the ability to display a social certification mark.
To assist trade policymakers in the development of a framework, this paper explores IP issues, pe... more To assist trade policymakers in the development of a framework, this paper explores IP issues, perspectives, and priorities related to both the CFTA and PAIPO. It suggests that process and substance issues are each important to create fair and balanced IP systems on the continent that stimulate innovation, growth, and competition. To this end, the paper’s suggested framework draws significantly on the Max Planck Principles for Intellectual Property Provisions in Bilateral and Regional Agreements, (the Principles for IP Provisions, or just Principles) adapted for a distinctly African context.
Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important part of economic growth and human development. ... more Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important part of economic growth and human development. International commitments harmonized in intellectual property treaties exist in tension with local needs for flexibility. Using a novel data collection and visualization method, this paper tracks the adoption of IP treaties on the continent of Africa over a 130-year period from 1885-2015. Our analysis highlights empirical data at four distinct points in time coinciding with events in African and international IP law (1935, 1965, 1995, and 2015). We explore relevant historical and legal aspects of each period to assess the evolution of the IP treaty landscape in context. Our findings show that treaties now saturate the IP policy space throughout the continent, limiting the ability to locally tailor approaches to knowledge governance.
This article integrates the concepts of open innovation and open development. It extends the theo... more This article integrates the concepts of open innovation and open development. It extends the theory of open development beyond the field of information communications technology to address aspects of innovation systems more generally. It applies the concept of openness to innovation in practice across the domains of open science, open education, and open data. Creating a framework that is more integrated in theory and cross-cutting in practice creates new possibilities for interdisciplinary research and policy-relevant insights.
C. Oguamanam, Genetic Resources, Justice and Reconciliation: Canada and Global Access and Benefit Sharing, 2018
This chapter explores whether and how genomic resources can be protected by the communities from,... more This chapter explores whether and how genomic resources can be protected by the communities from, or countries in which they are accessed. Specifically, it asks whether the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing can be an effective mechanism to reassure communities about the sharing of gene sequencing data. These questions are of particular importance to Indigenous peoples and local communities, as many have troubling historical experiences with colonization and associated natural resource exploitation. Many Indigenous and local communities (ILCs) live in developing countries, which are particularly sensitive to access and benefit-sharing (ABS) issues. Different but equally serious challenges exist for Indigenous peoples in developed countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. Until outcomes of implementation of the Nagoya Protocol are captured, Indigenous peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) remain in a quandary as to how to protect digitized genetic resources within their territories or under their jurisdiction. To advance our understanding of legal and regulatory options, this chapter integrates normative and positive perspectives on the mechanisms for access and benefit-sharing in the age of digital biology.
Reflections on Canada’s Past, Present and Future in International Law, 2018
Canada’s place in the international legal landscape of intellectual property (IP) has shifted dra... more Canada’s place in the international legal landscape of intellectual property (IP) has shifted dramatically in the last 150 years. It could shift even more in the next 50. This introduction offers readers a framework for thinking strategically about Canada’s past, present and future in international IP law. It explains how Canada’s position progressed over three historical phases of about a half-century each. While the deepest accounts of Canada’s evolving approaches treat the domains of IP separately,1 or offer regionally centred analyses,2 the present high-level treatment offers an integrated overview of international IP relations in general. It concludes with three topics — mega-regionalism, sub-state engagement, and private and soft law measures — requiring strategic foresight to successfully reposition Canada for the next half-century.
Inclusive Trade in Africa: The African Continental Free Trade Area in Comparative Perspective, 2019
Innovation is different in Africa. This chapter considers the means of innovation in Africa befor... more Innovation is different in Africa. This chapter considers the means of innovation in Africa before reviewing the context of approaches to intellectual property rights across Africa and a framework for solving intellectual property issues on the continent. In particular, it focuses on the procedural principles and substantial principles that can be followed for an appropriate approach to intellectual property rights in the AfCFTA.
Vulnerable: The Policy, Law and Ethics of COVID-19, 2020
This chapter addresses intersections among international trade law, intellectual property rights,... more This chapter addresses intersections among international trade law, intellectual property rights, and domestic innovation policies to prevent , detect, and treat pandemics. Structural issues with Canada's innovation system affected preparedness for this pandemic and, unless remedied, will impede responses to future crises. In this chapter , we suggest aligning domestic and international policy measures to nuance Canada's approach to intellectual property and accelerate Canada's global contributions through open science. Résumé Commerce international, propriété intellectuelle et politique d'innovation : les leçons d'une pandémie Ce chapitre traite des recoupements entre le droit commercial international , les droits de propriété intellectuelle et les politiques natio-nales d'innovation pour prévenir, détecter et traiter les pandémies. Les problèmes structurels du système d'innovation canadien ont affecté la préparation à cette pandémie et, s'ils ne sont pas corrigés,
International Copyright Law and Practice is an annually updated looseleaf treatise that integrate... more International Copyright Law and Practice is an annually updated looseleaf treatise that integrates the global analysis of international copyright with in-depth chapters on national laws. The text explains, step-by-step, the issues that arise when a work or other media production crosses borders, and how national laws and treaties, from the Berne Convention to TRIPS, govern these issues in real cases.This chapter explains Canada's copyright law. To facilitate easier research, these chapters follow a common and intuitive outline answering your critical questions:
• How are criteria of protectability formulated and construed? • What types of works and other productions are protected? • What special cases to consider: titles, designs, software, etc.? • How are performances, recordings, databases, etc., covered? • How long do rights last? What durations for foreign works? • Who first owns rights? What rules govern diverse transfers? • What procedures govern registration, royalty rates, etc.? • What conditions must be satisfied to protect foreign claims? • What moral and economic rights apply? How are they infringed? • Who may be liable: infringers, dealers, facilitators, hosts, etc.? • What exceptions, legal licenses, etc., may serve as defenses? • How to obtain civil, criminal, and administrative remedies?
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Papers by Jeremy de Beer
DATA-DRIVEN AGRICULTURE – OPPORTUNITIES FOR FARMERS
Beyond the technological developments, data – on, by, of and for farmers and their products – has become a growth area, driving expectations and investments in big data, blockchain technology, precision agriculture, farmer profiling and e-extension. Investing in data-driven agriculture is expected to increase agricultural production and productivity, help adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change, bring about more economic and efficient use of natural resources, reduce risk and improve resilience in farming, and make agri-food market chains much more efficient. Ultimately, it will contribute to worldwide food and nutrition security. Data-driven agriculture uses big data to supplement on-farm precision agriculture – using the right farm data, at the right time and in the right formats to make better decisions. It is already being applied, big time, in many developed countries and market-oriented agri-food chains. It is being tested in many developing countries to see where data yields can be highest.
ACCESS AND SHARING – TWO MAJOR CHALLENGES
Data-driven digital agriculture offers many opportunities across the sector. It is not, however, a panacea, especially for developing-country smallholders who must overcome challenges and risks to ensure that digital investments generate dividends. For the smallholders, the two main challenges are, first, to gain access to relevant data and services provided by others and, second, to make sure that any data they share does not actually weaken their positions.
FOUR STREAMS OF DATA – BY AND FOR FARMERS
Four streams of data that farmers typically use (access or share) are identified: The first stream is ‘localized’ data Executive Summary generated and collated on the farm for use only on the farm. The second stream is ‘imported’ data generated and collated off the farm, for use on the farm. The third stream is ‘exported’ data generated and collated on the farm for use off the farm. The fourth stream is ‘ancillary’ data generated and collated (on and) off the farm, mainly for use off the farm. The opportunities, challenges and risks for farmers are different in each stream. Localized and imported data, when clearly focused to on-farm situations underpin and drive good decision making on farms. From a farmer perspective, data shared (exported) by farmers locally and globally should provide ‘win-win’ results in terms of more relevant services and products (from forecasts to logistics to advice) they a farmer can access. ‘Localized’ and ‘ancillary’ data streams don’t present special access challenges to farmers as they are either completely inside the farm or completely outside. ‘Imported’ data presents all the challenges of availability, accessibility and usability, with data and services offered needing to be adjusted to what farmers need and can handle. ‘Exported’ data streams present all the risks and benefits around sharing, with added safeguards necessary to avoid exploitation of what the farmers share.
DATA INTERMEDIARIES AND INTEGRATION
The providers, enablers and handlers of data-driven services for and with farmers are critical actors in agri-food data systems. They find and transform raw data into actionable information and decision-making tools. They need to know the real needs of the farmers on the one hand and to find and understand the necessary data on the other. They must understand the standards, formats and licenses as well as the data collection practices including measurements and biases and make it useful. They need to win the trust of data providers and users, safeguarding ownership and striving for equitable access. Data standardization is one of the biggest challenges these data intermediaries face and different pathways to developing standards can be followed.
CHALLENGES FOR SMALLHOLDERS
Smallholders are tough to reach and thus many initial data service offerings have been designed for larger and more commercial operations. Following a ‘bottom of the pyramid’ logic, smallholders have much to offer any service providers and intermediaries like farmer organizations who are able to design and deliver data-driven services at large scale. Smallholders also have much to gain from data – small improvements in their operations are likely to provide larger gains at household level, proportionally, and, if the improvements are widely adopted, the whole agricultural sector in many countries that depend on smallholder agri-food systems can be transformed. However, for smallholders to benefit from data-driven agriculture, tools and applications need to be designed for their specific situations and capacities; they – and the organizations that support them – need to grow their capacities to become smart data users and managers; measures are needed to ensure that farmer-generated data is not exploited or misused; and smallholders, usually the least powerful parts of a value chain, must grasp every opportunity to be included in the collective data flows within agri-food systems.
FACILITATING DATA USE BY SMALLHOLDERS – DRIVERS FOR CHANGE
Data-driven agriculture offers opportunities and poses threats to smallholder farmers. Making data-driven agriculture smallholder-friendly should be guided by two sets of drivers. Important agri-food system drivers that determine the effectiveness of data-driven improvements that need to be tackled include: developing appropriate policies and related institutions and structures; devising incentives that deliver benefits to smallholders; developing capacities of farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs and institutional capacities to manage support systems for data and information sharing and exchange; extending the availability and affordability of hardware, software and data; developing needs-based data and software; and providing necessary infrastructure and connectivity within the reach of smallholders. Important data system drivers that need to be factored into investments in this area include: developing ‘apps’ for farmers that enable localized and specific solutions; using open agricultural data and standards that facilitate transparent, equitable and wide use and re-use of data; using ICTs and data to create jobs and make agriculture attractive to young people; investing in new data handling technical developments like big data, blockchain and Internet of Things that will make data value chains more powerful and transparent; strengthening institutions that enable equitable governance of data, locally to globally; and promoting joint actions on data by smallholders and their representatives through farmer organizations, cooperatives, associations, enterprises, etc.
DEVELOPING SMALLHOLDER-FRIENDLY DATA ECOSYSTEMS
The final section of the paper presents three priority actions to help develop a data ecosystem to support smallholders. • First, farmer data and services based around data should be aggregated through joint action that empowers and gives voice to farmers; • Second, trust centers, platforms and mechanisms that enable open data sharing should be established at different levels; • Third, international agreements to facilitate data access, ownership and flows should be developed. While many different actors need to be involved in these action areas, there are especially clear and present opportunities for groups (associations, federations, cooperatives, social enterprises, etc.) that represent and aggregate smallholders to step up their digital investments and capabilities so their members can grasp the opportunities offered by data-driven agriculture.
The chapter begins with a contextualization of PPPs in global governance generally and their evolution within sustainable development efforts. It then introduces Open AIR. The following section links various elements of Open AIR to potential characteristics of PPPs, emphasizing six features that have resulted in successful interventions: Cross-sector representation; novel approaches to problem-solving; cross-regional approaches; complex methods; networking of networks; interdisciplinary analysis; and a shared vision. The chapter then discusses the nexus of partnerships such as Open AIR to sustainable development, and reflects on policy ramifications, practical lessons, and limitations of the cross-regional research partnership model applicable to development PPPs.
Following an introduction in Part I, Part II of this article explores Canada’s new legal framework for the recreational cannabis market in light of the current political and legal environment. Part III surveys intellectual property regimes that may be most relevant to recreational cannabis, including plant breeders’ rights, patents, and trademarks. Part IV superimposes these regimes to reveal the issues likely to shape this industry. We consider legal- scientific issues, such as whether it is technically feasible to breed cannabis with protectable traits. And, we consider legal-commercial issues, such as whether restrictions on cannabis- related advertising might impact the use of cannabis trademarks.
We conclude, in Part V, that the use of IPRs to control the breeding, production, and distribution of recreational cannabis could lead to two plausible scenarios. A craft-based industry would have little use for patents or plant breeders’ rights, instead using trademarks to provide quality assurance in a market with simple and direct supply chains. A commodity-based industry would rely more heavily on patents and plant breeders’ rights to protect significant investments in cannabis breeding, and likely see separation between the roles of breeders and growers. We anticipate seeing elements of both markets in the near future. In the longer term, which type of cannabis industry materializes will depend, in part, on answers to the key legal questions we raise in this article.
The chief policy lesson from this paper is that moving to a model where data is open as default requires change in legal, social and technological norms, which all influence ownership of agriculture and nutrition data. Copyrights are not the only, nor even most important, legal rights establishing ownership of data. Relevant legal rights that facilitate access to and use of data at the international, national and subnational level include copyrights, database rights, technical protection measures, trade secrets, and patents and plant breeders’ rights, privacy and even tangible property rights. The open data community must broaden its engagement in all these areas to address emerging challenges."
DATA-DRIVEN AGRICULTURE – OPPORTUNITIES FOR FARMERS
Beyond the technological developments, data – on, by, of and for farmers and their products – has become a growth area, driving expectations and investments in big data, blockchain technology, precision agriculture, farmer profiling and e-extension. Investing in data-driven agriculture is expected to increase agricultural production and productivity, help adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change, bring about more economic and efficient use of natural resources, reduce risk and improve resilience in farming, and make agri-food market chains much more efficient. Ultimately, it will contribute to worldwide food and nutrition security. Data-driven agriculture uses big data to supplement on-farm precision agriculture – using the right farm data, at the right time and in the right formats to make better decisions. It is already being applied, big time, in many developed countries and market-oriented agri-food chains. It is being tested in many developing countries to see where data yields can be highest.
ACCESS AND SHARING – TWO MAJOR CHALLENGES
Data-driven digital agriculture offers many opportunities across the sector. It is not, however, a panacea, especially for developing-country smallholders who must overcome challenges and risks to ensure that digital investments generate dividends. For the smallholders, the two main challenges are, first, to gain access to relevant data and services provided by others and, second, to make sure that any data they share does not actually weaken their positions.
FOUR STREAMS OF DATA – BY AND FOR FARMERS
Four streams of data that farmers typically use (access or share) are identified: The first stream is ‘localized’ data Executive Summary generated and collated on the farm for use only on the farm. The second stream is ‘imported’ data generated and collated off the farm, for use on the farm. The third stream is ‘exported’ data generated and collated on the farm for use off the farm. The fourth stream is ‘ancillary’ data generated and collated (on and) off the farm, mainly for use off the farm. The opportunities, challenges and risks for farmers are different in each stream. Localized and imported data, when clearly focused to on-farm situations underpin and drive good decision making on farms. From a farmer perspective, data shared (exported) by farmers locally and globally should provide ‘win-win’ results in terms of more relevant services and products (from forecasts to logistics to advice) they a farmer can access. ‘Localized’ and ‘ancillary’ data streams don’t present special access challenges to farmers as they are either completely inside the farm or completely outside. ‘Imported’ data presents all the challenges of availability, accessibility and usability, with data and services offered needing to be adjusted to what farmers need and can handle. ‘Exported’ data streams present all the risks and benefits around sharing, with added safeguards necessary to avoid exploitation of what the farmers share.
DATA INTERMEDIARIES AND INTEGRATION
The providers, enablers and handlers of data-driven services for and with farmers are critical actors in agri-food data systems. They find and transform raw data into actionable information and decision-making tools. They need to know the real needs of the farmers on the one hand and to find and understand the necessary data on the other. They must understand the standards, formats and licenses as well as the data collection practices including measurements and biases and make it useful. They need to win the trust of data providers and users, safeguarding ownership and striving for equitable access. Data standardization is one of the biggest challenges these data intermediaries face and different pathways to developing standards can be followed.
CHALLENGES FOR SMALLHOLDERS
Smallholders are tough to reach and thus many initial data service offerings have been designed for larger and more commercial operations. Following a ‘bottom of the pyramid’ logic, smallholders have much to offer any service providers and intermediaries like farmer organizations who are able to design and deliver data-driven services at large scale. Smallholders also have much to gain from data – small improvements in their operations are likely to provide larger gains at household level, proportionally, and, if the improvements are widely adopted, the whole agricultural sector in many countries that depend on smallholder agri-food systems can be transformed. However, for smallholders to benefit from data-driven agriculture, tools and applications need to be designed for their specific situations and capacities; they – and the organizations that support them – need to grow their capacities to become smart data users and managers; measures are needed to ensure that farmer-generated data is not exploited or misused; and smallholders, usually the least powerful parts of a value chain, must grasp every opportunity to be included in the collective data flows within agri-food systems.
FACILITATING DATA USE BY SMALLHOLDERS – DRIVERS FOR CHANGE
Data-driven agriculture offers opportunities and poses threats to smallholder farmers. Making data-driven agriculture smallholder-friendly should be guided by two sets of drivers. Important agri-food system drivers that determine the effectiveness of data-driven improvements that need to be tackled include: developing appropriate policies and related institutions and structures; devising incentives that deliver benefits to smallholders; developing capacities of farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs and institutional capacities to manage support systems for data and information sharing and exchange; extending the availability and affordability of hardware, software and data; developing needs-based data and software; and providing necessary infrastructure and connectivity within the reach of smallholders. Important data system drivers that need to be factored into investments in this area include: developing ‘apps’ for farmers that enable localized and specific solutions; using open agricultural data and standards that facilitate transparent, equitable and wide use and re-use of data; using ICTs and data to create jobs and make agriculture attractive to young people; investing in new data handling technical developments like big data, blockchain and Internet of Things that will make data value chains more powerful and transparent; strengthening institutions that enable equitable governance of data, locally to globally; and promoting joint actions on data by smallholders and their representatives through farmer organizations, cooperatives, associations, enterprises, etc.
DEVELOPING SMALLHOLDER-FRIENDLY DATA ECOSYSTEMS
The final section of the paper presents three priority actions to help develop a data ecosystem to support smallholders. • First, farmer data and services based around data should be aggregated through joint action that empowers and gives voice to farmers; • Second, trust centers, platforms and mechanisms that enable open data sharing should be established at different levels; • Third, international agreements to facilitate data access, ownership and flows should be developed. While many different actors need to be involved in these action areas, there are especially clear and present opportunities for groups (associations, federations, cooperatives, social enterprises, etc.) that represent and aggregate smallholders to step up their digital investments and capabilities so their members can grasp the opportunities offered by data-driven agriculture.
The chapter begins with a contextualization of PPPs in global governance generally and their evolution within sustainable development efforts. It then introduces Open AIR. The following section links various elements of Open AIR to potential characteristics of PPPs, emphasizing six features that have resulted in successful interventions: Cross-sector representation; novel approaches to problem-solving; cross-regional approaches; complex methods; networking of networks; interdisciplinary analysis; and a shared vision. The chapter then discusses the nexus of partnerships such as Open AIR to sustainable development, and reflects on policy ramifications, practical lessons, and limitations of the cross-regional research partnership model applicable to development PPPs.
Following an introduction in Part I, Part II of this article explores Canada’s new legal framework for the recreational cannabis market in light of the current political and legal environment. Part III surveys intellectual property regimes that may be most relevant to recreational cannabis, including plant breeders’ rights, patents, and trademarks. Part IV superimposes these regimes to reveal the issues likely to shape this industry. We consider legal- scientific issues, such as whether it is technically feasible to breed cannabis with protectable traits. And, we consider legal-commercial issues, such as whether restrictions on cannabis- related advertising might impact the use of cannabis trademarks.
We conclude, in Part V, that the use of IPRs to control the breeding, production, and distribution of recreational cannabis could lead to two plausible scenarios. A craft-based industry would have little use for patents or plant breeders’ rights, instead using trademarks to provide quality assurance in a market with simple and direct supply chains. A commodity-based industry would rely more heavily on patents and plant breeders’ rights to protect significant investments in cannabis breeding, and likely see separation between the roles of breeders and growers. We anticipate seeing elements of both markets in the near future. In the longer term, which type of cannabis industry materializes will depend, in part, on answers to the key legal questions we raise in this article.
The chief policy lesson from this paper is that moving to a model where data is open as default requires change in legal, social and technological norms, which all influence ownership of agriculture and nutrition data. Copyrights are not the only, nor even most important, legal rights establishing ownership of data. Relevant legal rights that facilitate access to and use of data at the international, national and subnational level include copyrights, database rights, technical protection measures, trade secrets, and patents and plant breeders’ rights, privacy and even tangible property rights. The open data community must broaden its engagement in all these areas to address emerging challenges."
• How are criteria of protectability formulated and construed?
• What types of works and other productions are protected?
• What special cases to consider: titles, designs, software, etc.?
• How are performances, recordings, databases, etc., covered?
• How long do rights last? What durations for foreign works?
• Who first owns rights? What rules govern diverse transfers?
• What procedures govern registration, royalty rates, etc.?
• What conditions must be satisfied to protect foreign claims?
• What moral and economic rights apply? How are they infringed?
• Who may be liable: infringers, dealers, facilitators, hosts, etc.?
• What exceptions, legal licenses, etc., may serve as defenses?
• How to obtain civil, criminal, and administrative remedies?