15 March 2014
How many peers does it take to change a light bulb?
This March, a new edition -the third- of the Open Thoughts blogs has been released. This year, the blog plays ironically with the central question to discuss in depth about peer production.
Perhaps you are not familiar with the term “we weren’t either”, but what if we tell you that some examples of it are the Wikipedia, the Linux system (which most smartphones run) or the SETI@home project? Indeed, peer production refers to a collaboratively-based production system coordinated through free digital platforms in which contributors choose their tasks freely.
In this new blog, which we coordinate for the Research and Transfer Support Office (OSRT) at UOC, we will debate about the lights and shadows of this way of producing. Is it a new form of communism ? Or the hope for liberal capitalism? Or is it just a way of working that has existed since the first human societies and that somehow we lost during the industrial revolution? As you can see, there are pretty different opinions about it. Throughout this 2014 we will work to ensure that these and many other opinions find their space within the blog.
