The iCommons' iSummit '08 site was launched tonight, and I must say it is looking amazing. I am rather biased in this analysis, however, I feel my bias is worthy for Loftwork's killer logo shown on the left. There's something about luminous green which gets me going. I won't be able to attend the conference, but the Second Life programme looks beefed up this year for those of us who want a from-the-couch experience.

I think iCommons is an undervalued organisation, if I were a broker and they were listed I would give it a strong 'buy' recommendation. In digital currency this translates to find out who they are, what they do and then tell others. They have a mandate that extends beyond that of Creative Commons to bridge the gaps between the various 'open access' movements including Wikipedia, Open Source, Free Culture, Open Education, Open access journals etc. I am fortunate enough to know some of the team based on Johannesburg, and can attest that this is a group of highly motivated, passionate people, who are too modest to boast about their own brilliance.

This will be the fourth iSummit, a large conference organised all over the world by 2-5 people! The 10 000ft overview of the summit is best described by the commoners themselves:

There will be two keynote sessions each day, featuring confirmed speakers David Wiley of OpenContent fame, FLOSS advocate and researcher, Rishab Ghosh and Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales. Also look forward to community-specific 'labs' and an Academy track for Commons novices, with extra time to connect and chat. Free space has been planned into the programme to accommodate spontaneous connections as they arise - if a group of like-minded Commoners have an idea that they would like to discuss right there and then, we can help to make that happen.