The Open Knowledge Foundation is proud to launch the Open Knowledge Legal Lab — a new global community of lawyers committed to advancing openness at the frontiers of technology. The Lab will bring together practising lawyers, legal scholars, and public sector lawyers from around the world to experiment, collaborate, and co-create legal frameworks that support a more open and sustainable digital future.
Our first project will be the ongoing SUDACO (Sustainable Data Commons) effort, which is developing an innovative Open Data Commons Licence (ODCL) as well as an ecosystem of legal and social tools to enable fair, responsible, and values-driven data sharing. Building on this foundation, the Legal Lab will soon expand its work to other pressing areas of frontier technology — from artificial intelligence and machine learning, to satellite infrastructures and Earth observation data, commercial brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and international technology transfers.
The first cohort of the Legal Lab will consist of up to 50 successful applicants worldwide, selected through a competitive process to ensure diversity of geography, legal tradition, and expertise. Given our current capacity, to ensure meaningful participation in discussions, English proficiency will be required.
Participation in the Legal Lab will be on a pro bono basis for now, with an expected time commitment of up to four hours per month. In return, members will gain unique opportunities for connection, learning, and visibility within this pioneering international network of legal experts, including a profile on our Experts Database, once they complete their first six months of engagement.
As part of the Legal Lab, members will:
- Collaborate with peers across jurisdictions to inform emerging legal frameworks.
- Be invited to exclusive gatherings, workshops, and debates with leading experts.
- Gain recognition and visibility as part of a global movement at the intersection of law, technology, and openness.
- Help design the legal foundations for openness in the age of frontier technologies.
We welcome applications exclusively from:
- Practising lawyers,
- Legal scholars, and
- Lawyers working within public administrations or regulatory bodies.
If you are ready to join this movement and contribute to the future of open technologies, we invite you to apply here.
