How do you develop a set of “rules of the road” across diverse interests and data sources?

The Data Commons community needs to define the contract for data reuse across an often bewildering array of interest groups.

The challenge will be applying the principle of universality.

For example, there will likely be tension between bottom-up data interests(level IV) who tend to want highly specific rules and top-down commons interests (I, II) who will be aiming for generalisability and universality across a community of diverse interests. Success and the ability to scale and integrate across diverse communities will rest on the degree to which the commons community can solve this riddle.

One recommended practice is to be “protocol-based” rather than try to solve these relationship challenges with a “point solution” approach. Here we use “protocol” in both the technology sense and the social sense of the term.