This two-day international conference is the foundational scientific event for a forthcoming edited volume from Edward Elgar, for which it will directly provide the proceedings. Ten years after the emergence of the concept of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) in international negotiations, it aims to offer a cross-cutting and critical analysis of its global governance. DSI is now central to numerous international legal regimes—terrestrial and marine biodiversity, agriculture, public health, and intellectual property—and crystallizes major tensions surrounding access to and the sharing of benefits derived from genetic resources in the digital age.

Structured around thematic panels corresponding to the main institutional frameworks involved (Convention on Biological Diversity, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Treaty on the High Seas, World Intellectual Property Organization, and World Health Organization), the conference brings together leading researchers, legal experts, negotiators, and other experts, whose contributions will be featured in chapters in the book. The discussions combine in-depth sectoral analyses with cross-cutting reflections on multilateralism, the decolonization of law and knowledge related to genetic resources, biocultural governance, the legal and epistemic status of digital sequence information, and user perspectives.

By fostering interdisciplinary and intersectoral dialogue, the conference aims to move beyond the fragmented approaches that currently characterize the regulation of digital sequence information. It offers a unique space for collective reflection at a time when multilateral benefit-sharing mechanisms are being implemented. The requested funding will thus enable not only the organization of this international event, but also the production of a reference work based on its proceedings, intended to have a lasting impact on both academic research and ongoing political and institutional debates, as it will be shared with negotiators participating in the next COP on Biodiversity at the end of 2026.

Program   

Price

Free conference for students, academics and NGOs / civil society.

80 euros for lawyers, companies, industries, research & development centers.

Dinner on Thursday, April 16: 50 euros / free for speakers

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