A View on the Anthropocene: Open Science, Technology, and Societal Innovation

[Abstract with a couple selections]

Layne Hartsell, Leif Edvinsson, Jacob Urup Nielsen, Soraj Hongladarom

Center for Ethics in Science and Technology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. New Club of Paris, Vienna, Austria. Center for Cities and Creativity, Copenhagen, Denmark. P2P Foundation

Abstract
The concept of societal innovation (SI) is a matter of open science/reasoning, peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, and global justice. SI is the renewal and further development of a robust, constructionist innovative system, both in societal value creation and societal governance to contribute to addressing a major question of how are we to create a flourishing planetary society by meeting the challenges of today in an effective manner. SI introduces a novel social improvement to people´s everyday lives by bringing integral systemic change to society´s structures and modes of operation. The response of SI is to address the need for societal wide renewal and development where smaller social innovation has been unable to attend to, and importantly, to avoid further technological determinism and dystopia which are growing threats. To meet the challenges and for progress into the near future, the range of exploration for SI in science and technology is from code and ICT in P2P systems to materials in biotechnology and nanotechnology to a convergence in the natural sciences which will yield valuable knowledge for humanity. With the emergence of the Anthropocene and the extraordinary complexities of which we are aware, we argue from a synthesis of societal innovation for an inclusive technosphere and wider biosocieties for megainfrastructural development.

from the Introduction:
 The extraordinary developments in technology from the convergence of information and communications technology (ICT) to biotechnology and the potential for nanotechnology,[1] and then the inability of current systems to meet major challenges has led us to consider the matter of societal innovation as a way to articulate a better response to the challenges of the near future and for the building of an inclusive technosphere. Societal Innovation (SI) is a synergistic concept introducing a novel economic and social improvement to people´s everyday life by developing next level infrastructure, or megainfrastructure in accord with human needs and from a critically sustainable viewpoint of creating biosocieties moving away from the negative implications of the Anthropocene.

[1] Mihail C. Roco et al., “Convergence of Knowledge, Technology, and Society: Beyond Convergence of Nano-Bio-Info-Cognitive Technologies,” July 2013, http://www.wtec.org/NBIC2/Docs/FinalReport/Pdf-secured/NBIC2-FinalReport-WEB.pdf; Mihail C. Roco, Chad A. Mirkin, and Mark C. Hersam, “Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020: Summary of International Study,” Journal of Nanoparticle Research 13, no. 3 (March 2011): 897–919, doi:10.1007/s11051–011–0275–5.

Societal Innovation as concept
SI is the concept which we are developing to be representative of the aforementioned technosocial complexity which humanity is presented with in the *near future, and as an addition, not only will we need practical solutions on a scale never attempted, we find ourselves in a complexity which will also need basic interpretative systems which we think will require distributed governance or lead to such distributed response. Therefore, societal innovation could be an important organizing concept for the next step towards a planetary biosociety where code, design, knowledge, resources, and advanced, applied systems are distributed to meet the challenges of productive activity. For the matter of resource use we think a practical yet futuristic view should be included such as better use of terrestrial resources, the mining of asteroids, or auto-assembly in new materials (nanotechnology).
*I use the term “near future” after Salvatore Iaconesi and Oriana Perisco at Near Future of Education Lab/La Scuola Open Source and Ubiquitous Commons.

P2P Networks and Open Science
P2P networks are for the sharing of information and collaboration through the system of ICT which allows for higher order coordination to be conducted whether it be for projects, work, learning/education, governance, and logistics.[1] With the IoT and other forms of the Internet, the P2P system is expanding. P2P is the concept for the system of peerist interactions mediated through a technosocial system of code and ICT within a digital commons. Michel Bauwens see P2P as a technosocial dynamic of technology meditation for human interaction.[2]

[1] Vasilis Kostakis and Michel Bauwens, Network Society and Future Scenarios for a Collaborative Economy, accessed October 28, 2014, http://www.palgrave.com%2Fpage%2Fdetail%2Fnetwork-society-and-future-scenarios-for-a-collaborative-economy-vasilis-kostakis%2F%3FK%3D9781137415066.

[2] Personal communication.