CSIRO Launch AKX

The AKX has been set up by CSIRO to test whether trading knowledge online can work for natural resource management. In the case of natural resource management, knowledge markets could be used for things like accurate forecasting of crop production, water availability or pest pressure.

As well as enabling better management of the environment, such markets would provide a hedging tool for businesses exposed to risks like water availability, allowing them to share and profit from information as well as offset risks.

“We want all sorts of participants to take part in this trial,” says CSIRO economist, Dr Stuart Whitten.

“That includes water managers, end users like farmers and even people with rain gauges or a passing interest in the weather.

“The results will be used to test the effectiveness of knowledge markets as predictive tools for natural resource management.