Dissertation Research: The Open World - The World of Open Systems

论文研究：开放世界 - 开放系统的世界

• 批准号: 0551426
• 负责人: Phoebe Sengers
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-02-01 至 2008-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0551426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Open; World; Systems

This Science and Society Dissertation Improvement Grant in the Social Studies of Science, Engineering and Technology uses ethnographic and historical research methods to trace the emergence and characterization of what we call 'open' systems. These systems are driven by groups of diversely-motivated, self-organizing volunteers who forge large-scale collaborations and take up alternative approaches to the design, production, exchange, deployment and use of information technology. Examples of open systems from recent years include robust computer operating systems and infrastructure (e.g. Linux, Apache), sizeable scientific publication databases (e.g. arXiv, PubMedCentral), and safe systems and methods for genetic organism modification (e.g.TransBacter). The implications of open systems and their departures from closed systems are not yet well understood. This dissertation explores the contested promises and perils of such open systems. The research will investigate claims that open systems represent significant departures from nationalistic modes of social organization, a transformation of neo-liberal economic logic and a sustainable alternative to traditional models of technological innovation. Drawing from several methodological traditions (including science and technology studies, information science, innovation studies, and social history) and building on detailed field work, this dissertation aims to develop a comprehensive theory that can assess the potential long-term effects of open systems. The primary objective of this project is to understand the continuities and discontinuities between older systems and the world of open systems and to document transitions where they exist. The aim is to scrutinize, evaluate and explain potential transformations within larger historical contexts while considering their implications for the law and public policy. Fieldwork for this project will focus on three contemporary case studies in different domains: free and open source software, open scholarly publishing, and open information systems in the biotechnology arena. By selecting cases from different domains the researchers hope to establish a basis for comparison that would go beyond information technology per se, the area of most focus until now. In addition, a set of smaller, historical case studies will serve as a baseline for comparison. NSF funds will support fieldwork in the United States, Europe, India and Australia that includes interviews and participant observation within developer and user communities, participation in actors' conferences, and research in governmental and private archives. In these sites open systems are being designed, built, negotiated and contested. The researcher will observe and interview developers, users and public administrators in each of the sites and collect and analyze documents. The intellectual merit of this dissertation is primarily in its contribution to the area of social studies of technology. Through detailed case studies the work will explore the connection between technology and ideology, and scrutinize the idea of 'closure' in technological systems, closed or open. The broader implications and impact of this project derives from the timely contributions that it will offer to political and technical debates about openness and its role in the information society. This work offers a critical examination of a process by which values like participation, equality, access, freedom, and justice may be beginning to displace the predominant values of the military-industrial-complex across multiple domains. This work will explore the dynamics of these transitions to the extent that they exist, and their potential long-lasting effects, which are not yet well understood.

科学和社会论文的改进授予科学，工程和技术的社会研究使用人种学和历史研究方法来追踪我们所谓的“开放”系统的出现和表征。这些系统是由各种动机，自组织的志愿者组成的，他们进行了大规模的合作，并采用了信息技术的设计，生产，交换，部署和使用的替代方法。近年来开放系统的示例包括强大的计算机操作系统和基础设施（例如Linux，Apache），较大的科学出版物数据库（例如Arxiv，PubMedCentral），以及用于遗传生物体修饰的安全系统和方法（例如，TransBacter）。开放系统及其偏离封闭系统的含义尚不清楚。本文探讨了这种开放系统的有争议的承诺和危险。该研究将调查说，开放系统代表社会组织的民族主义模式，新自由主义经济逻辑的转变以及传统技术创新模型的可持续替代方案。本论文借鉴了几种方法论传统（包括科学和技术研究，信息科学，创新研究和社会历史）并在详细的现场工作基础上，旨在开发一种综合理论，可以评估开放系统的潜在长期影响。该项目的主要目的是了解较旧的系统与开放系统世界之间的连续性和不连续性，并记录其存在的过渡。目的是在更大的历史环境中仔细检查，评估和解释潜在的转变，同时考虑其对法律和公共政策的影响。该项目的现场工作将重点关注不同领域中的三个当代案例研究：免费和开源软件，开放学术出版和生物技术领域的开放信息系统。通过从不同领域的案例中选择案例，研究人员希望建立比较基础，该基础将超越信息技术本身，这是迄今为止最重点的领域。此外，一组较小的历史案例研究将作为比较的基准。 NSF资金将支持美国，欧洲，印度和澳大利亚的实地调查，其中包括开发人员和用户社区内的访谈和参与者观察，参与演员会议以及政府和私人档案馆的研究。在这些站点中，正在设计，建造，谈判和争议。研究人员将在每个站点中观察和采访开发人员，用户和公共管理人员，并收集和分析文件。本论文的智力优点主要在于它对技术社会研究领域的贡献。通过详细的案例研究，该工作将探索技术与意识形态之间的联系，并仔细研究技术系统中“关闭”的想法，即封闭或开放。该项目的更广泛的含义和影响源于它将对有关开放性及其在信息社会中的作用的政治和技术辩论提供的及时贡献。这项工作对一个过程进行了批判性的检查，该过程的参与，平等，访问，自由和正义可能开始取代多个领域的军事工业复杂性的主要价值。这项工作将在它们存在的范围内探索这些过渡的动力，以及它们的潜在持久效应，这些效果尚未得到充分理解。