Boston Tech Hub Faculty Working Group Brief: What is the Right Approach for Sharing Intellectual Property Around Emerging Technology?

Spring 2019 Session 3

The Boston Tech Hub Faculty Working Group, hosted by former Secretary of Defense and Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Director Ash Carter and Harvard SEAS Dean Frank Doyle, convened its third session of the spring semester. This session explored the limits and advantages of intellectual property (IP) sharing for emerging technologies. For the purposes of this discussion, we referred to IP broadly defined: proprietary algorithms, data collected, a complete developed product, etc. This brief focuses on tech companies, research centers, and labs that decide to limit access to certain types of  IP in the name of protecting overall public good. This brief uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms as a primary example, but discussion encompassed other technologies as well. This session also examined the implications of alleged Chinese theft of emerging tech IP. 

This pre-session briefing document provides background information on the subject; identifies current controversies, debates, and/or outstanding questions about the subject; poses discussion questions; and recommends relevant readings.