IT for Change with UNESCO Global CSOs and Academic Network on AI Ethics and Policy
On 17 February 2026, IT for Change convened the roundtable ‘Cultural Rights, Innovation, and Development in the AI moment: Towards a public domain framing’ at India International Centre, New Delhi. The roundtable brought together policy and legal experts, creators, artists, researchers, and development justice organizations to surface challenges and imagine alternative governance possibilities to protect and promote cultural rights and epistemic justice for the AI moment.
The roundtable was structured around three rounds of discussion, exploring the following core questions:
- What are the impacts of the dominant AI innovation paradigm for cultural rights and development?
- Are existing IP regimes adequate to redirect AI development pathways towards local needs and local control of the knowledge infrastructures of tomorrow?
- How can we build an AI commons that fosters a flourishing public domain? Is IP reform a part of this agenda?
The roundtable was held with the support of FES and UNESCO. Insights from this roundtable will feed into a policy brief for UNESCO’s Network on AI Ethics and Policy, with due acknowledgement of contributions from participants.