Interactional Justice for Sustainable Management of Common-Pool Resources

We argue that IoT-enabled socio-technical systems exhibit two inter-related and inter-dependent commons: one being the commons of resources (both physical and intellectual), and the other being the commons of knowledge. We show that both types of commons can be generically managed by applying Ostrom’s design principles for selfgoverning institutions. We then propose that one requirement for successful and sustainable management of the dual commons is the effective deployment of open, inclusive and transparent knowledge management processes, inspired by a study of classical Athenian democracy. A process of interactional justice is proposed as an algorithmic approach to formalising these processes in socio-technical systems. We conclude by arguing that the digital transformation needs to be accompanied by a democratisation of platforms and data which empower citizens to support and sustain collective action.