Digital Commons

The Digital Commons is a forward-looking strategy for industrial innovation in the digital age based on a first implementation at lowRISC CIC in Cambridge.

Whereas

1.   We are living through a hugely disruptive time akin to the industrial revolution driven by everything on the planet acquiring a digital representation

2.   There is a lack of a UK vision or approach for delivering growth, technology sovereignty, dealing with the haves and have-nots, as well the fundamental risk of being excluded from technology platforms

3.   All aspects of the way our society exists will completely depend on the data and the platform used to deliver applications. This includes every kind of manufactured item and is not restricted to software-only situations

4.   Using the market or money to buy the service may not be possible or desirable - the NHS covid app is an example

5.   The direction of travel towards the digital component being an indispensable part of every kind of industrial activity is inevitable

A UK Digital Commons

1.   A set of sector-specific digital infrastructure components actively managed and of industrial-quality

2.   Consisting of data, code, platforms, designs, tutorials - a kind of industrial kit-of-parts akin to Wikipedia

3.   Crowded in, jointly developed, and shared by participating entities as a basis for (competing) downstream products

4.   Easy to use because of industrial-level quality and no IP risk

5.   Available at low or no direct cost to qualified entities: these can be categorised by funding, regulation, industrial groupings, business goals, political priorities, etc. Such entities will find it much easier to innovate because they will have a head start and concentrate on their proprietary innovative step

6.   Can be made fully open to establish new markets, destroy current market structures, and landgrab. This is a realistic (and possibly only) strategy for the UK to grow large companies

7.   A public and (mostly) private partnership

8.   Guaranteed to be maintained in the same way as conventional infrastructure

9.   Declared as a UK strategy and incentivised by government (of whichever complexion)

Strategic Benefits

1.   Provides a much easier innovation and growth path for UK business

2.   Deals with the barriers to innovation presented by large monopolists

3.   Builds communities of well-trained individuals and pools of know-how grounded in the UK

4.   Provides a level of technology sovereignty

5.   Equally accessible from any part of the UK therefore deals with the haves and the have-nots by default

6.   Manages the complexity of digital systems including the cybersecurity attack surface

7.   Provides a framework for standardisation, regulation, and legislation centred on the UK

8.   Represents a structurally novel approach at improving UK growth and global positioning

Approach/Incentivisation/Governance

1.   Implemented by industrial consortia to share burden of complexity, cost, and maintenance

2.   Aggregated, coordinated, and perpetuated using independent, not-for-profit, fit-for-purpose, engineering companies - grounded in UK because such companies cannot be bought

3.   Encouraged by tax incentives such as Digital Commons tax credits (incentives for companies to join and crowd in improvements)

4.   Available to universities and public sector research establishments with direct rewards for crowding in components

5.   Requiring some government participation and funding to catalyse strategy and ground it in the UK - a pure market solution will not happen

Example Sectors

About a dozen sectors in the first instance for example:

1.   Silicon Commons and Digital Trust - lowRISC CIC is a fully developed existing example

2.   AI Commons

3.   Energy Control and Management Commons

4.   etc

Andy Hopper
9 August 2023