Intellectual property versus open science: an unbridgeable gap?

James Boyle, Creative Commons founder, opens the IRF Symposium 2010 in Vienna

On 2 June 2010 the 3rd Information Retrieval Facility (IRF) Symposium in Vienna starts with a highlight: The non-profit research organisation has successfully secured James Boyle, one of the Creative Commons co-founders, as a keynote speaker.

Complex data pools in corporate data bases, the internet and public media require new search technologies. This year’s symposium aims at fostering dialogue between industry and science on topics such as digital search engines, and presenting the public with concrete solutions. Often conflicting approaches to managing intellectual property arise. A seemingly unbridgeable gap exists between demanding an open access to knowledge and protecting intellectual property.

We anticipate the opening speech with great excitement. During the course of his multi-faceted activities, James Boyle has followed a critical approach to intellectual property and the information society’s social, cultural and scientific aspects. Within the scope of projects such as “Science Commons” and “Public Knowledge” he clearly advocates a free access to cultural and scientific content as furthering the development of innovative and open educational resources.

James Boyle’s presentation promises to be an unusual encounter: the principle of an open information society meets the paradigm of the commercial, or rather industrial use of intellectual property. The IRF thus once again lives up to expectations: by overcoming rigid patterns of thought and pointing towards alternative approaches it stimulates the innovation cycle of industry and research alike.

A detailed programme, registration procedures and media information can be obtained via:

http://www.irfs.at/

The Information Retrieval Facility (IRF), founded 2006 and located in Vienna, Austria, is an open research platform for networking and collaboration of scientists and professionals in the field of information retrieval and search engine science.
The IRF has members in the following categories:
* Researchers in information retrieval (IR) or related scientific areas
* Industrial/corporate information management professionals
* Patent authorities and governmental institutions
* Students of one of the above

Marie-Pierre Garnier
PR & Communications

Information Retrieval Facility
Operngasse 20b
A-1040 Vienna
Tel: +43 (1) 236 94 74 - 6069
Fax: +43 (1) 585 01 41
Email: mp.garnier@ir-facility.org

This release was published on openPR.