Short abstract:

In this paper, we report on the preliminary results of the Socio-Environmental Knowledge Commons (SEEKCommons) project, whose goal is to study, translate, and foster the commons in science and technology.

Long abstract:

“Open Science” technologies—such Free and Open Source scientific software, Open Data, and Open Scientific Hardware—have returned to the forefront of debate concerning the present and future of digital infrastructures. Governments, international agencies, and funding organizations have renewed hope for the purported cross-pollination effects of “Open Science,” promising large-scale collaborations with increased efficacy in the application and reuse of public funds. Yet, skepticism with “openness” has been rampant given the actual and potential cases of corporate enclosure of collective research efforts. In this paper, we report on the preliminary results of the Socio-Environmental Knowledge Commons (SEEKCommons) project, whose goal is to study, translate, and foster the commons in science and technology. In particular, we discuss preliminary results of our study on how researchers, technologists, and community organizations negotiate different understandings and practices of “openness” in the context of socio-environmental research. For the conclusion, we discuss the implications of the “common” as a technopolitical framework that allows for redressing some of the key challenges of “Open Science” concerning the governance and the limits of openness.