Critical Perspectives on Open Development: Empirical Interrogation of Theory Construction

Theoretical and empirical analyses of whether open innovations in international development instrumentally advantages poor and marginalized populations.

Over the last ten years, "open" innovations--the sharing of information without access restrictions or cost--have emerged within international development. But do these practices instrumentally advantage poor and marginalized populations? This book examines whether, for whom, and under what circumstances the free, networked, public sharing of information and communication resources contributes (or not) towards a process of positive social transformation. The contributors offer both theoretical and empirical analyses that cover a broad range of applications, emphasizing the underlying aspects of open innovations that are shared across contexts and domains.

Arul Chib is Associate Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Caitlin M. Bentley is a Lecturer at the Information School at the University of Sheffield and an Honorary Fellow at Australian National University's 3A Institute. Matthew L. Smith is Senior Program Specialist at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa and coeditor of Open Development: Networked Innovations in International Development (MIT Press and IDRC).