Open Digital Resources for Local Value Creation

The Network of Open Resource Initiatives (NORI) promotes open access to key digital resources as a foundation of a fair and equal global society. NORI aims to empower local communities by distributing innovation capacities. It was developed with the support of the GIZ Innovation Fund by Daniel Brummund, Lea Gimpel, Jan Krewer and Arlett Stojanovic.

This paper aims to demonstrate that the support of open digital resources can become a concrete alternative to traditional support for innovation and technology transfer, by offering a way out of the structural centralization of power and resources that continue to reign supreme, in particular in the tech industry. It presents the theoretical assumptions behind the methodological approach developed within NORI.

This paper is part of a series that will explore approaches to mobilize the power of open digital resources to support local value creation and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on concrete use-cases, future articles will present the methodological approach chosen by NORI. They will show that open resources can enable capacity development – but that resources alone are not enough, that building communities is possible and that it lays the ground for local value creation, and finally that shared infrastructures can help modernize public services while preserving sovereignty.