Session 1. 22.

This study investigates the prevalence and mechanisms of trade-based money laundering (TBML) in Ghana's automobile sector, highlighting its implications for the economy and regulatory frameworks. It aims to develop data collection tools, assess the magnitude of TBML, identify typologies used by illicit actors, and propose actionable recommendations to enhance anti-money laundering (AML) efforts. It employs value chain and political economy analyses to uncover the factors contributing to the sector's vulnerability to TBML and assess its impact on the economy, financial systems, and legitimate businesses. It also used mirror trade statistics and price filter methods to identify instances of trade mispricing, suggesting that these anomalies warrant further investigation. The findings indicate that, while there is no direct evidence of intentional money laundering by traders, the sector's vulnerabilities, such as high demand for used vehicles, low compliance with AML regulations, and inadequate financing, create an environment conducive to TBML. Criminals exploit technological advancements, including virtual banking and decentralised finance, to facilitate their activities. This study identifies several categories of individuals involved in TBML, including uninformed traders, opportunistic actors, and politically exposed persons leveraging trade systems for illicit gains, and underscores the need for a comprehensive approach to combat TBML in Ghana. Key recommendations include enhancing awareness and compliance among non-financial operators, empowering customs authorities with advanced risk assessment tools, and fostering inter-agency collaboration. Furthermore, leveraging artificial intelligence for transaction monitoring can significantly improve the detection of suspicious activities, emphasising that Ghana's position as a transit point for illicit goods necessitates urgent policy intervention. By implementing robust regulatory frameworks and fostering a transparent trading environment, Ghana can mitigate TBML risk, protect its financial integrity, and promote sustainable economic growth. This study provides a foundational analysis that can inform policymakers and stakeholders in their efforts to effectively combat TBML in the automobile sector.

MAPLE (the Massachusetts Platform for Legislative Engagement - www.mapletestimony.org) is a non-profit digital platform designed to enhance civic participation by fostering connections between residents, community organizations, advocacy groups, and the legislature. As a digital public space focused on legislative testimony, MAPLE provides tools for longstanding civic institutions—such as unions, religious organizations, and neighborhood societies—to better engage in the law-making process. MAPLE seeks to reinvigorate these institutions' historical roles as sources of community knowledge and action.

This submission outlines how MAPLE plans to empower civic actors and institutions, and how government collaborations can bolster these dynamics. MAPLE standardizes and demystifies the process of submitting testimony, making it easier for communities to contribute to state-level decision-making and for legislators to discern public input on critical issues.

At its core, MAPLE is designed to strengthen representative self-governance by encouraging collective problem-solving and prolonging attention to key local matters. The platform’s ability to coordinate efforts among local associations, traditional advocacy organizations, and state actors exemplifies how digital technology can enhance civic responsibility and shared governance.

By restoring vital connections between civic society and state processes, MAPLE offers a pathway for more sustainable and meaningful governance. This presentation will illustrate how the platform helps local stakeholders find common ground and address issues within their communities.

Organizational growth, though a natural phase in an organization's life cycle, nonetheless poses significant challenges to the sustainability of shared resources. When growth occurs without clear boundaries, leadership, or vision, communities risk succumbing to a 'tyranny of structurelessness', leading to the degradation of common resources. This paper explores how Metagov, an online laboratory for digital governance, addresses these challenges through an initiative designed to adaptively manage its evolving knowledge commons. As Metagov grapples with a shifting identity, the need for clearer boundaries, and the structuring of an increasingly diffuse knowledge base, it has been experimenting with the adoption and integration of a Knowledge Organization Infrastructure (or KOI). By collating digital artifacts, including internal correspondence, organizational policy, and published works, KOI aims to empower Metagov to curate and govern knowledge about itself more effectively. This initiative seeks to enhance the accessibility and utility of Metagov's knowledge commons, thereby facilitating collaboration and innovation both within the community and across its broader network of peers.

Drawing on ethnographic methods such as participant observation, interviews, and archival analysis, this work-in-progress explores how Metagov navigates social, economic, and technical pressures, such as data governance challenges, resource constraints, and balancing community expectations with technical requirements. Using a grounded theory approach, this study examines critical issues, including power dynamics and the diverse modes of agency that actors employ to shape governance. Preliminary analysis suggests that while KOI was introduced to improve the management of Metagov's expansive knowledge commons, it has also resurfaced longstanding challenges in commons governance, such establishing group boundaries, aligning shared values, and encouraging participatory governance. These findings highlight the persistent difficulties of commons governance, even within a community of governance experts, while contributing to the broader discourse on digital governance and adaptive infrastructure design.