United Nations Development Programme: Intellectual Property (IP) Framework
We have been working with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to reform how its Accelerator Labs engage with intellectual property (IP). Using music as a case study, research was undertaken in close collaboration with the UNDP in the Philippines; Mexico, Palestine; Uganda; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Zimbabwe; Colombia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The resulting research has led to the development of a new IP policy for the UNDP that it is currently trialling.
Why Does It Matter
Music has been used as a tool to better understand how to support and remunerate creators discovered and supported by UNDP Accelerator Labs. By conducting robust, empirical research exploring how the UNDP engages with IP we discovered a drive to enhance and improve how creators are supported. The result is an opportunity to offer more services on the ground, whilst also respecting traditions and local communities. Here, music demonstrated a larger opportunity to pursue to accelerate UNDP’s investments in creators all over the world.
What Have We Done
We conducted a longform analysis of how the UNDP and the UN as a whole engages with IP, complete with a series of case studies with a number of Accelerator Labs. A report was completed in early 2022, leading to a further commission to implement the recommendations outlined in the research, which is due to conclude in 2023.
Read the UNDP Blog
Please get in touch if you’d like to read more.
Who Did We Work With?
In addition to the UNDP and its Accelerator Lab network, we relied on a number of experts to advise on IP, including the following: Jordi Puy and Eric Jordi from Unison, Paolo Lanteri from the WIPO and Benjamin Morgan from RMIT in Melbourne.
