FLOK Society:About

FLOK Society is a research project aiming to change the productive matrix towards creating a society based on common, free and open knowledge in Ecuador, as stated in the National Plan of Good Living:

''The Knowledge Revolution proposes innovation, science and technology as the foundations for a change in the productive structure, which is conceived as a distinct form of production and consumption. This transition will take the country from a phase of dependence on finite resources to one of infinite resources, such as science, technology and knowledge.'' SENPLADES, National Plan for Good Living 2013-2017, p.19

We are on the battlefield that has defined the Citizen’s Revolution of buen vivir in terms of knowledge and its cyber tools: a globalized colonialist inheritance and interference defined by a cognitive individualism based on consumption and the transaction of knowledge in the form of intellectual property. This colonialist inheritance is now confronted by, on one hand, the indigenous traditions of yachay, of the (re)production of community knowledge and, on the other hand, the new forms of commons digital collaboration defined by hacker ethics and culture. The principles of reciprocity (randi-randi) and the organization of community work (maki-maki) resonate within what we could call a digital Knowledge Pachamama (the commons of the general intellect).

Open, commons, shared knowledge is a habitat and a necessity for buen vivir. Only the “better life” value system demands the exclusion of access to knowledge; buen vivir and sumak kawsay demand, within this totality of knowledge, a sumak yachay for knowledge both old and new. This is why it is critical to develop good knowledge, which will benefit everyone and create a rich and fertile environment for our cultural, social, economic and political lives.

The challenge being faced is extraordinarily complex. It requires the participation of international experts, academic investigators, hackers, lawyers, community leaders, activists, business leaders, etc., in an investigatory process that will define and create policies and regulatory principles in order to guarantee the success of a productive model based on the open commons of knowledge