Governance
iCommons is a UK private charitable corporation limited by guarantee. You can read about the iCommons board, members and staff on the People page. You can download corporate documents, financial statements and board reports as follows:
- Articles of Association
- Memorandum of Association
- Certificate of Name Change
- Certificate of Corporate Registration
- Charity Commission Registration Confirmation
- 2009 Trustees Report and Financial Statements
- 2008 Trustees Report and Financial Statements
- 2007 Trustees Report and Financial Statements
- 2006 Trustees Report and Financial Statements
- 2005 Trustees Report and Financial Statements
The organisation, iCommons Ltd, is governed by the following Core Values and Code of Conduct that were developed by members of the iCommons community:
iCommons Core Values
iCommons adheres to these core values and principles:
- Defend, protect, support and encourage the freedom of societies to create, build upon and share works of culture.
- Develop theory and practice with respect to concepts and structures that can support commons-based projects both nationally and internationally.
- Encourage broad participation in the growth of the intellectual commons – from business to the public sector, and throughout wider civil society.
- Respect the diversity of creativity and innovation by creators around the world.
- Promote and support efforts to achieve a more equitable global development based on access to technology, knowledge, science and culture.
- Promote the highest levels of open access to intellectual products for organisations and individuals – especially those with a public mandate
- Employ open and transparent governance and processes organisationally.
- Promote and seek global diversity in participation in iCommons activities.
- Actively seek out, and productively network with other organisations that promote like values.
- Encourage the incorporation of accessibility principles within iCommons.
While the organisation must abide by these principles, the iCommons community is governed by the following set of rules:
iCommons Code of Conduct
- iCommoners are respectful of the diversity of creativity and of intellectual thought. We are a diverse group of people – from civil society, business and governments; from the North and the South; from politically diverse backgrounds and cultures. We know that this kind of diversity is found in very few places, that it requires a very special kind of respect – and that we are especially mindful of this because it is our greatest strength.
- iCommoners collaborate and help one another. Because we are a global commons movement, we recognise that not every community has the same level of connectivity/support etc, and as such, we recognise how important it is to collaborate with those from diverse cultural/political/economic contexts. We recognise that developing true partnerships between communities in the North and South is as important as developing cutting edge products and services.
- iCommoners are committed to ensuring the freedom of societies to create, build upon and share the world’s knowledge, culture and science. iCommoners believe that, because this freedom is essential to the freedom of expression, that we will promote the highest levels of open access to intellectual products for organisations and individuals – especially those with a public mandate.
- iCommoners employ open and transparent governance and processes. Transparency is important because it encourages communal ownership of the iCommons network, allows us to learn from one another, helps and helps to avoid conflicts of interest. iCommoners will adopt transparent governance procedures without disrespecting individual privacy rights.
