As stated in the IFKAD theme for 2027, ‘The Ecology of Knowledge in the Age of AI’, technology cannot be regarded as neutral. The same applies to knowledge, which cannot be regarded as neutral either. In fact, it can vary depending on perspective and situation, and may also be subject to a half-life (Durst, 2026). A healthy knowledge ecosystem should take this into account as well.

At the same time, society faces so many challenges, which require not only serious cooperation between different stakeholders across organizations and countries, but also the use of AI solutions that are as freely accessible as possible, enabling these stakeholders to incorporate AI as an active participant in their activities, thought processes, decision-making processes, etc.

If knowledge is viewed primarily as an asset and thus as a competitive advantage, i.e., the traditional perspective, which is strongly championed by the resource-based view, quickly reaches its limits here. The open resource perspective could bring new ideas or alternative ways of thinking in addressing the challenges at hand. This perspective proposed by Schlagwein et al. (2010) views resources as openly accessible, i.e., opened and not protected. We have reached an era in which resources are freely accessible at all levels, i.e., individual, organizational and societal, which enables and enhances cooperative and responsible knowledge management and, conversely, enables individuals, organizations and society as a whole to generate benefits that are accessible to all. However, open access alone does not guarantee the responsible use of information/knowledge; or, to put it another way, openness does not automatically lead to (responsible) action. This depends on a wide range of different factors at the individual, organisational and societal levels.

Therefore, the organizers of this track encourage academics and practitioners to share their ideas, findings and insights on how to advance the knowledge management literature from an open resource-based view to move forward to a healthy and responsible knowledge ecosystem. This track welcomes submissions that demonstrate out of the box and provocative ways of thinking. Methods that go beyond traditional ones are specifically invited.