Information systems researchers have an established research tradition in analyzing and understanding the genesis, dynamic and evolution of groups of people collaborating in organizations. However, the widespread deployment of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has enabled new options for collaborating and sharing ideas, activities and projects. In several domains (most notably publishing and Open Source Software development) a new collaboration model is emerging: the Open Collaboration process. The free/libre open source software (FLOSS) model, based on the availability of the source code and a distributed process of knowledge creation, can be considered as an example of a collaborative and open development environment that could be applied in different sectors.
Open Collaboration activities such as FLOSS development, and Wikipedia, are characterized by their openness, both in access and in contributions. Anyone can potentially participate in the development, maintenance, use and support activities of such projects, often on a voluntary basis, rather than the project being carried out exclusively within an already established and hierarchical organization. Through technology-mediated discussion and contribution, participants collaboratively produce a valued outcome, distinguishing them from online communities more generally. The lack of an overarching organizational structure and reliance on voluntary contributions in turn leads many projects to be self-organizing: members of the projects choose their own tasks and collaboration processes. As well, many projects are explicitly meritocratic: recognition, rewards and reputation are assigned on the basis of the factual contributions to the group’s activities. However, the increased involvement of firms in these processes has resulted in a broad range of hybrid forms.
This track aims to explore and extend research on emerging Open Source and Open Collaboration Models, bringing together researchers, practitioners and scholars to discuss and share knowledge and experience on all areas related to the development, use, support, and economic viability of Open Source software and content. The expected contributions can range from social to technical, and from theoretical to experience studies.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Socio-technical Perspectives in Open Source Projects:
- Governance mechanisms;
- Socio-technical structure, coordination, and control;
- Motivation, leadership, incentives, trust and social recognition;
- Business models based on the Open Source model: innovation, licensing, distribution and competition;
- Total cost of ownership, contrasting proprietary and Open Source models;
- Issues and opportunities in applying Open Source products within organizations;
- Learning, knowledge sharing and diffusion in Open Collaboration projects;
- Standards, interoperability, sustainability and competitive advantage in Open Source projects
- Lessons from the open model applied to the conventional information systems development;
- Technology usage and open collaboration systems;
- Architectures, techniques and tools for enabling and facilitating open collaboration;
- Emerging Prospects: domains or solutions deeply influenced by the Open Source and Open Collaboration models;
- Diffusion and adoption of Open Source and Open Collaboration model;
- Open collaboration in Public Administration (e.g., FLOSS in the public sector), public policies and regulation, social impact, etc.
- Issues and opportunities for Open Source products in customer-facing as well as infrastructure applications;
- Open Source intellectual property regimes and licensing models;
- Open Collaboration, open science and open knowledge
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- Antony Bryant, Leeds Metropolitan University
- Sherae Daniel, University of Pittsburgh
- Joseph Feller, University College Cork
- Robert Fichman, Carroll School of Management
- James Howison, Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science
- Karim Lakhani, HBS
- Jan Ljungberg, IT-University of Göteborg
- Ann Majchrzak, University of Southern California
- Joshua Mindel, San Francisco State University
- Derrick Neufeld, University of Western Ontario
- Oded Nov, Polytechnic Institute of New York University
- Cristina Rossi, PoliMilano
- Rahul Roy, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
- Maha Shaikh, LSE
- Sandra Slaughter, Georgia Tech
- Sebastian Spaeth, ETH
- Kangning Wei, Syracuse University
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