A2K and the WIPO Development Agenda

A2K and the WIPO Development Agenda

Speakers

Dominique Foray, Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne
Teresa Hackett, eIFL.net
Richard Owens, World Intellectual Property Organization
Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Permanent Mission of Chile in Geneva
Uma Suthersanen, School of Law, Queen Mary, University of London
Moderating: Ahmed Abdel Latif, ICTSD

Monday, 8 September, 14h30 - 16h00

In September 2007, the WIPO General Assembly adopted a Development Agenda for the organization. Among the 45 Recommendations, there are several which address A2K issues and concerns including recommendations for WIPO to: consider the preservation of the public domain and support norm-setting processes that promote a robust public domain; initiate discussions on how to further facilitate access to knowledge for developing countries and LDCs in order to foster creativity and innovation; and provide a forum for exchange of experiences on open collaborative projects such as the Human Genome Project.

This panel will discuss the A2K aspects of the WIPO Development Agenda looking at both the antecedents of the various recommendations as well as the implementation opportunities and challenges.

 The questions to be addressed will include:

• What is the role and responsibility of WIPO, as a specialized agency of the UN, in promoting A2K?
• In which ways can the Development Agenda enhance the potential of WIPO to play this role and live up to its responsibilities for A2K?
• What practical steps and processes are needed to implement the various A2K recommendations in the WIPO Development Agenda?
• Which challenges will face WIPO and its stakeholders in implementing the A2K mandate of the Development Agenda? How can these be overcome?