The Digital Protection of Traditional Knowledge

The Digital Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Questions Raised by the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in India is a chapter co-authored by Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda, published in Global Information Society Watch 2016 by the Association for Progressive Communications. The chapter examines the intersection between digital technologies, intellectual property regimes, and traditional knowledge systems — focusing on how India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) attempts to preserve indigenous knowledge while raising new policy dilemmas around access, ownership, and data sovereignty.

Contents

1. Publication Details
2. Abstract
3. Context and Background
4. Key Themes or Arguments
5. Full Text
6. Citation

Publication Details

👥 Authors:

Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda

📘 In Book:

Global Information Society Watch 2016

📚 Editors:

APC and Hivos

🏛️ Publisher:

Association for Progressive Communications

📅 Year:

2016

🔢 ISBN:

978-92-95102-70-5

🗂️ Catalogue Code:

APC-201611-CIPP-R-EN-DIGITAL-260

📄 Pages:

pp. 31–34

📘 Type:

Book Chapter

📄 Access:

Download PDF

Abstract

This chapter explores how India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) — an ambitious project to digitally catalogue traditional medicinal and agricultural knowledge — challenges the existing frameworks of intellectual property and community ownership. Abraham and Marda discuss the paradox of using Western IP mechanisms and digital archives to “protect” community knowledge, and how digitisation may inadvertently expose traditional knowledge to new forms of appropriation. The authors highlight that while the TKDL aims to prevent biopiracy, it also raises pressing questions about data sovereignty, cultural context, and informed consent in the digital age.

Back to Top ⇧

Context and Background

The chapter situates the TKDL within India’s long-standing struggle to balance knowledge preservation with intellectual property protection. It traces the origins of the TKDL as a response to cases of biopiracy — where foreign entities patented traditional formulations from Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Yoga. The authors explain how digitisation and metadata tagging transformed ancient manuscripts into a searchable digital repository for patent examiners. However, they argue that this process also redefines ownership, converting community-held, orally transmitted knowledge into a state-administered database governed by bureaucratic and legal structures.

Key Themes or Arguments

• Biopiracy and Digital Protection: TKDL was designed to counter global patent claims on traditional Indian knowledge, yet the digital format itself creates new vulnerabilities.
• Data Sovereignty: Questions arise about who controls and interprets traditional knowledge once digitised and shared across global patent offices.
• Consent and Representation: Communities whose knowledge is documented often lack meaningful consent or control over its use in global IP regimes.
• Translation and Context: Codifying knowledge into English and patent-classification systems risks erasing cultural, linguistic, and contextual depth.
• Policy Implications: The chapter calls for rethinking “protection” to prioritise community agency, collective benefit-sharing, and culturally grounded frameworks for digital preservation.

Back to Top ⇧

Full Book

Back to Top ⇧

Citation

If you wish to reference or cite this chapter, please use one of the following formats:

APA style:

Abraham, S., & Marda, V. (2016).
The Digital Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Questions Raised by the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in India.
In APC & Hivos (Eds.), Global Information Society Watch 2016 (pp. 31–34).
Association for Progressive Communications. ISBN 978-92-95102-70-5. APC-201611-CIPP-R-EN-DIGITAL-260.
https://sunilabraham.in/publications/the-digital-protection-of-traditional-knowledge/

BibTeX style

@incollection{abraham2016digital,
  author = {Abraham, Sunil and Marda, Vidushi},
  title = {The Digital Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Questions Raised by the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in India},
  booktitle = {Global Information Society Watch 2016},
  editor = {APC and Hivos},
  publisher = {Association for Progressive Communications},
  year = {2016},
  pages = {31--34},
  isbn = {978-92-95102-70-5},
  note = {APC-201611-CIPP-R-EN-DIGITAL-260},
  url = {https://sunilabraham.in/publications/the-digital-protection-of-traditional-knowledge/}
}

MLA style

Abraham, Sunil, and Vidushi Marda. "The Digital Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Questions Raised by the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in India."
Global Information Society Watch 2016, edited by APC and Hivos,
Association for Progressive Communications, 2016, pp. 31–34.
ISBN 978-92-95102-70-5. APC-201611-CIPP-R-EN-DIGITAL-260.
https://sunilabraham.in/publications/the-digital-protection-of-traditional-knowledge/

Back to Top ⇧

📄 This page was created on 6 November 2025. On GitHub, you may preview this page Tip: Press Alt+Shift+G or see its raw source.