Decentralized autonomous organization design for the commons and the common good

Abstract

The current internet economy is characterised by a historically unprecedented bundling of private sector power over infrastructures. This situation is harmful for overcoming problems where collective action is needed, such as for governing digital commons. Organisations that run on collectively owned decentralised infrastructure are able to overcome this centralisation of power. These common decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) could help in fostering digitally enabled collective action. However, currently we have no clear view of how a DAO designed for commons governance would operate and be governed. By creating a conceptual prototype of a DAO governing a common, we provide a clear path of how common DAOs should mature and which tools are needed to create them. In this research, we created a governance framework for common DAOs by combining 16 works on technology for commons governance. The framework reveals that common DAO governance consists of three areas: 1) Governance structure, 2) Enabling technology, and 3) Community governance. We provide governance mechanisms that together describe an implementation of Ostrom’s common governance principles in a DAO. This work is a synthesis of previous research on technology for collective action. The proposed framework aids in standardising DAO governance for the common good and may contribute to a large scale roll-out of commons DAOs.

Democratic Erosion of Data-Opolies: Decentralized Web3 Technological Paradigm Shift Amidst AI Disruption

“…Considering the arguments and counterarguments in this ongoing debate, an alternative and widespread reaction emerges from crypto-libertarian or pseudo-anarchist perspectives. This reaction has led to the development of an emerging body of literature on decentralized systems in peer-to-peer interactions [74], encompassing (i) blockchain [15,56], (ii) DAOs [28,29,31,74,85,86], and (iii) data cooperatives [13,20,34,35,37,56,73,[87][88][89][90][91]. This alternative viewpoint suggests an unexplored research trajectory that can interweave blockchain, DAOs, and digital citizens, potentially fueling a post-identitarian mobility pattern [17,92].…”

“…Emerging digital citizenship regimes play a central role in reshaping the data landscape, with evolving regulatory frameworks and initiatives promoting responsible and sustainable data practices [9,10]. The article explores emancipatory datafication strategies, including (i) blockchain-based decentralized data architectures [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], (ii) decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33], and (iii) data cooperatives [34][35][36][37], as means to empower individuals and communities in reclaiming control over their data. In conclusion, the article explores a paradigm shift in data governance [38][39][40][41][42], calling for collective efforts to build more equitable and sustainable data spaces and ecosystems, with a focus on prioritizing data sovereignty and achieving digital self-determination [43][44][45][46].…”