Open Network Production
Description
"The mode of production within open networks is often referred to as Commons-based peer production, where thousands of contributors around the world collaborate on a complex economic project, while the inputs and outputs of the value creation process are openly accessible to everyone. This mode of production can be observed in numerous global open-source projects - among the best known are Wikipedia, Linux/GNU, or Mozilla – and in the newly emerging decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) in the blockchain space. The impressive thing here is that this non-market mode of production, which functions via laterally scaled global networks often outcompetes some of the largest and best-financed business enterprises in the world by far in terms of efficiency, transaction costs and collective value generated through the free access and use of information. Their secret is the vast and largely untapped power of collective intelligence within an open information ecosystem.
Commons-Based Peer Production (CBPP) is usually based on the following conditions:
A large number of contributors…
…which have open access to the production infrastructure, information and knowledge required (Open access)
…have the freedom to choose based on their capacity, interest, skills and knowledge between a variety of modules of a project (Self-Identification)
…that differ in terms of time and effort required (Granularity)
…and can be worked on independently (Independence)
…while it is possible to merge and integrate the individual modules with relatively low integration costs (Integration)
The coordination within the network often functions through
stigmergic collaboration, an indirect form of communication between actors in a distributed and open network, where the previous contributor leaves a hint or further instruction for the one who
takes on the task. Quality control is done via peer-reviews or administrators. The digital wealth generated in the network is
mostly made accessible through a General Public or Creative
Commons license, which grants all users the right to freely copy,
distribute and modify, under the condition that all versions based
on it must also be made available under the same rights. The fact
that there are no owners of the network, access barriers, or hierarchies does not mean that it functions without any governance
structure. Instead of hierarchy, there is much more of a heterarchy in which everyone has equal participation rights and free and
transparent access to all information. Decisions are usually made
democratically or meritocratically, in which case the "leaders are
often the project initiators or members who have risen to their
positions through consistent and constructive contributions. If
there is an abuse of power within the community or disagreements about the further strategic development of the project, this
often leads to forks, where a group of people can freely decide
to take on a different path, which is possible since all work that
has been done is openly available. The motivation of the contributors can derive from the passion for a certain project, social reputation within the network, the personal learning experience, or
because they are simply interested in the use-value of the product itself."