For this special event, our focus was on two areas of rapid innovation underpinning fundamental infrastructure for navigating the digital-physical commons: AI and the Open Web.
Previous conferences included public goods thought-leaders such as Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin), Karl Floersch (Optimism), Sarah Horowitz (Freelancers Union), Jaan Tallinn (Skype, Future of Life Institute & Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, CSER, at Cambridge University), Isabela Fernandes (Tor Project), Tom Kalil (Schmidt Ventures), and many more.
Themes explored included:
- Pioneering experiments in new funding mechanisms for public goods
- Platforming successful model methodologies leveraging open source technologies and artificial intelligence with scaling potential
- Frameworks for incubation and methods of support for high-potential innovation
- Explorations of feedback loops to optimize impact evaluation going forward
Register to Attend
Watch the Livestream
Speakers
Al
Smith
The Tor Project, Inc.
Alex
Skidanov
NEAR
Andrew
Dickson
Drips
Andrew
Nesbitt
LOOPID
Artem
Brazhnikov
Golem Foundation (Octant)
Barry
Threw
Gray Area
Ben
Goldhaber
FAR Labs
Brian
Behlendorf
OpenWallet Foundation
Britta
Gustafson
A1M Solutions
Cameron
Dennis
Banyan Collective
Carl
Cervone
Open Source Observer
Dae
Moyer
Endaoment
Daniel
Friedman
Active Inference Institute
Danny
O'Brien
Filecoin Foundation
Eugene
Leventhal
Metagov
Evan
Miyazono
Atlas Computing
Gloria
Wu
Karma3
Holke
Brammer
Hypercerts Foundation
John Henry
Clippinger
MIT Media Lab & Active Inference Institute
Josh
Tan
Metagov
Juan
Benet
Protocol Labs
Kelani
Nicole
TRANSFER
Kevin
Owocki
Supermodular, Gitcoin
LauNaMu
Metrics Garden Labs
Liz
Henry
Borealis Philanthropy
Matthew
Stephenson
Pantera Capital
Mehan
Jayasuriya
Mozilla
Michelle (Mosh)
Lee
Protocol Labs
Natalie
Cadranel
Open Archive
Navroop
Sahdev
The Digital Economist
Randy
Farmer
Spritely Institute
Raymond
Cheng
Kariba Labs
Reuven
Gonzales
Open Source Observer
Riddhi
Patel
Blockchain@Berkeley
Sam
Ragsdale
a16z
Tom
Mellan
CryptoEconLab
William
Le
Haraka
Peter
Kaufman
MIT Open Learning
Schedule
APRIL 13
APRIL 14
APRIL 13
APRIL 14
10:00 PST / 17:00 UTC
Introduction to FtC - Open Source Day
David Casey (Funding the Commons), Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs), and Beth McCarthy (Funding the Commons)
Watch Session
10:20 PST / 17:20 UTC
Delivering Sustainability for Critical OSS Projects
Brian Behlendorf (Linux Foundation)
Watch Session
10:40 PST / 17:40 UTC
Human Rights-Centered FLOSS Technology
Natalie Cadranel (OpenArchive) and Beth McCarthy (Funding the Commons)
Watch Session
11:00 PST / 18:00 UTC
Morning Workshop Previews
Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs) and Danny O'Brien (Filecoin Foundation)
Watch Session
11:20 PST / 18:20 UTC
Public Goods Funding as a Competitive Advantage for OSS/Web3 Projects
Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin)
Watch Session
12:00 PST / 19:00 UTC
Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Justice and Tech from a Funder Perspective
Liz Henry (Borealis Philanthropy)
Watch Session
12:20 PST / 19:20 UTC
Driving Growth in an Ecosystem, What Worked and What Didn't
David Huseby (lib p2p/Protocol Labs), Mosh Lee (IPFS Fund), Mehan Jayasuriya (Mozilla), Brian Behlendorf (Linux Foundation), and Dae Moyer (Endaoment)
Watch Session
14:00 PST / 21:00 UTC
Afternoon Workshop Previews
LauNaMu (Metrics Garden Labs), Holke Brammer (Hypercerts Foundation), Andrew Dickson (Drips), Eugene Leventhal (Metagov), and Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs)
Watch Session
14:10 PST / 21:10 UTC
Blockchain as Commons: Applying Ostrom’s Polycentric Approach to Blockchain Governance
Navroop Sahdev (Digital Economist)
Watch Session
15:10 PST / 22:10 UTC
Onion Services: The Last Defense Line for the Open Web
Al Smith (Tor Project)
Watch Session
15:30 PST / 22:30 UTC
Measuring Impact of Open Source Software (Web2)
Andrew Nesbitt (Ecosyste.ms)
Watch Session
15:50 PST / 22:50 UTC
Measuring Impact of Open Source Software (Web3 + Bigger Picture)
Carl Cervone (Open Source Observer)
Watch Session
16:20 PST / 23:20 UTC
Funding AI Public Goods and Keeping Them Public
John Henry Clippinger (MIT Media Lab & Active Inference Institute), Samuel Klein (Public AI Network), and Daniel Friedman (Active Inference Institute, COGSEC)
Watch Session
16:40 PST / 23:40 UTC
Jolt: An Open Source zkVM by a16z Crypto Research and Engineering
Sam Ragsdale (a16z)
Watch Session
17:00 PST / 12:00 UTC
Open Culture in the Arts
Kelani Nichole (TRANSFER) and Barry Threw (Gray Area)
Watch Session
17:20 PST / 12:20 UTC
A Developer’s Journey: Supporting Your Public Goods Work
Reuven Gonzales (Open Source Observer) and Britta Gustafson (A1M Solutions)
Watch Session
17:50 PST / 12:50 UTC
Conference Conclusion & Reviewing Results of the Workshops
David Casey (Funding the Commons) and Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs)
Watch Session
11:20 PST / 18:20 UTC
Public Goods Profit Sharing in Tech
Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs) and Danny O'Brien (Filecoin Foundation)
Watch Session
12:10 PST / 19:10 UTC
Internet Standards as Public Goods
Danny O'Brien (Filecoin Foundation)
Watch Session
14:10 PST / 21:00 UTC
Improving Impact Assessment in Retro Funding
LauNaMu (Metrics Garden), Gloria Kexin Wu (Karma3 Labs / OpenRank), Matt Prewitt (RadicalxChange Foundation), William Le (Haraka), Ven Gist (HGPF Ecosystem Support Machine), Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs), Matthew Stephenson (Pantera Capital), Eugene Leventhal (Metagov), and Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin)
Watch Session
15:20 PST / 22:00 UTC
Bridging the gap: Web2 and Web3 OSS Funding Infrastructure
Andrew Dickson (Drips), Artem Brazhnikov (Octant), Holke Brammer (Hypercerts), Tom Mellan (CryptoEconLab), and Raymond Cheng (Kariba Labs)
Watch Session
17:00 PST / 12:00 UTC
How Web2 and Web3 Can Learn From Each Other's Grant Funding Pathways and Processes
Eugene Leventhal (Metagov)
Watch Session
10:00 PST / 17:00 UTC
Welcome
Cameron Dennis (Banyan Collective), Era Qian, David Casey (Funding the Commons), and Jocelyn Weber Phipps (RDI)
Watch Session
10:35 PST / 17:35 UTC
Gorilla LLM: Connecting LLMs with massive Apps, Tools, and Services through APIs
Shishir Patil (Gorilla)
Watch Session
10:50 PST / 17:50 UTC
Open Source Search: Two Decades of Bad Design Decisions and Legacy Software
Ash Vardanian (Unum)
Watch Session
11:20 PST / 18:20 UTC
Microsoft "AutoGen: A Multi-Agent Framework for Enabling Next-Gen AI Applications"
Julia Kiseleva (Microsoft)
Watch Session
12:00 PST / 19:00 UTC
The Model Openness Framework: Promoting Completeness and Openness for Reproducibility, Transparency and Usability in AI
Matt White (Linux Foundation)
Watch Session
12:20 PST / 19:20 UTC
Advancing Open Source LLM Evaluation, Testing, and Debugging
Jason Lopatecki (Arize AI)
Watch Session
12:40 PST / 19:40 UTC
Efficient Fine-Tuning and Serving of LLMs that Rival GPT-4
Arnav Garg (Predibase)
Watch Session
13:00 PST / 20:00 UTC
Unlocking Value in Open Source AI - Commercialization & Monetization
Era Qian (Edge), Keith Adams (Pebblebed), Suraj Patel (MongoDB), and Erik Bovee (MindsDB)
Watch Session
14:50 PST / 21:50 UTC
AI and the Collective Pursuit of Truth
Jamie Joyce (Society Library)
Watch Session
15:50 PST / 22:50 UTC
How to Grow & Scale Your OS Community
Cameron Dennis (Banyan Collective), Shannon Hong, and Ben Goldhaber (FAR Labs)
Watch Session
16:20 PST / 23:20 UTC
Conclusion
Cameron Dennis (Banyan Collective), Era Qian, and David Casey (Funding the Commons)
Watch Session
Venue Map
Tokyo 2024
Join us for our 10th Funding the Commons conference in Tokyo Summer 2024!
In a program curated by our partners from DeSci Tokyo and Plurality Tokyo, we’ll explore organizations and research projects revitalizing communities and civic infrastructures by defining new forms of support for public goods.
In the midst of complex interdependent global challenges, and regional issues like declining population, defining needs, mechanisms, and coordination pathways around shared common resources can provide hope and tangible solutions.
Amidst Japan's environmental and demographic shifts, this conference emerges as a crucial platform for inspiring new strategies in public goods support and presenting a regenerative vision from the cosmopolitan city of Tokyo. Over two days, engage, share, and collaborate to forge paths toward effectively funding and sustaining public goods in our dynamic world.
Funding the Commons Tokyo 2024 brings together presentations, panel discussions, and collaborative sessions, welcoming both in-person and virtual participants. It's a chance for builders, protocol developers, academics, and funders to talk, create, and share new ways to fund public goods. Whether you're looking to add your knowledge, learn from the experts, or meet others in the field, this event is where you can help shape the future of public goods funding.
Register now to secure your spot at Funding the Commons Tokyo 2024!
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Recent Events
Taipei 2023
Funding the Commons made its Asia debut in Taipei from 9-10 December 2023. In partnership with da0, the web3 branch under g0v, Funding the Commons created a unique experience focused on public goods discussions.
Berlin 2023
DeSci.Berlin and Funding the Commons joined forces during Berlin Blockchain Week, set to in the city's vibrant tech landscape. This combined event ignited the development of new partnerships, projects, and initiatives with each day providing a distinct platform to engage with the wider blockchain and decentralized science communities.
Video coming soon!
Paris 2023
Funding the Commons, Paris was unique in its incorporation of open space technology and other unconference-style programming, in addition to engaging keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive workshops. This format enabled even more connection amongst participants, and led to the formation of new collaborations and projects.
Previous Speakers
Previous speakers included public goods thought leaders such as Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin), Karl Floersch (Optimism), Jaan Tallinn (Future of Life Institute & CSER), Tom Kalil (Schmidt Ventures), and many more.
Funding public goods — algorithms and mechanisms | November 12, 2021
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum
Fireside Chat | March 3, 2022
Jaan Tallinn, Future of Life
Institute & CSER & Juan Benet, Protocol Labs
Decentralized investment structures for public goods and commons | June 24, 2022
Juan Benet, Protocol Labs
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Join us for the future
We excited to connect with you at our next event, but we'd rather not wait! If you support our mission and would like to get involved, please let us know how you'd prefer to participate.
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General inquiries
Please email us with any questions you have, and we look forward to speaking with you soon!
2023 Funding the Commons Inc.