DECENTRALIZATION IN DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS. IS THERE A HIDDEN CENTRE?

[mozfest-bot]

[ UUID ] 48c8ad1e-7267-40ef-9223-5e73f20d352d

[ Submitter's Name ] Carolina Tejada

[ Additional facilitators ] Leonardo Schvarstein

What will happen in your session?

Digital ecosystem simulation. Responding to different settings as they move randomly through the room, participants will experiment with decentralization and try to find out where a hidden center might be. The structures and connections that the group would form, will respond to similar social dynamics within digital ecosystems.

Reflection. After experimentation, they will reflect upon the meaning of decentralization, regarding the internet as a network.

Visualization. Considering decentralization as a goal, they will reflect upon the political and economical forces that sustain and take advantage of the center (meaning for example that 5 companies are capturing 85% of all the data)’. They will also review their own standing in relation with the ‘center’ and how this standing influences the way they act.

What is the goal or outcome of your session?

RAISE AWARENESS. Demonstrating through experimentation and reflection that:

• when we talk about decentralization, there is always an implicit or explicit referring center. If there were no center at all, the notion of decentralization would make no sense.
• decentralization is not moving away from a center, it is conceiving the system through a different paradigm
• the resolution of the ‘centralization – decentralization’ tension is a matter of power
• we are always involved in these tensions as we interact with others through digital ecosystems

If your session requires additional materials or electronic equipment, please outline your needs.

• Projector
• Paper, pens, post-it notes

Time needed

90 mins

[timcowlishaw]

Oh, I like this very much indeed - really great to have some social science- related proposals here, and I love the participatory / performative aspect. @cubicgarden - what do you think?

Thanks!

tim

[jvallera]

Agreed. The participatory and game-like method here is very interesting. It seems like a great way to prototype and test a model for an activity that can be shared with local leaders who run events, workshops, etc. Is there any plan to document and share this as guide or activity post-Mozfest?

[leosch11]

Thanks for your comments and question.

Participants will be able to consciously review where they stand in their digital ecosystems and how the way they interact with others is influenced by such a standing.

They will have a better understanding of the forces acting in the field and their responses to such forces.

By becoming advocates of the movement towards decentralization, they will be able to explain that choosing the digital ecosystems through which we interact with others is a decision with political and economic consequences. E.g: guide others to online spaces where they can continue to contribute to decentralization (internet health report, mozilla pulse, etc.)

[maboa]

This sounds really interesting Carolina! A great way of raising awareness. Thanks so much for submitting! I have a quick question - have you run this session before? If so, I'd be curious to hear how that went.

[leosch11]

I´m Carolina's teammate. We have run similar sessions in different contexts, this would be our first time with Mozilla. Sessions have been carried on following our Bert Hellinger's framework (see THE HIDDEN ORDERS IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIP SYSTEMS)

[Carotejada]

Thank you @timcowlishaw @maboa and @jvallera I just saw these comments... I apologize for the late response... for some reason I'm not getting notifications from this Repo. As Prof. @leosch11 said we are co-leading this session, but he is actually the expert and has tons of experience with this type of workshops.

He has been developing some work around digital ecosystems and I really think his perspective would be of great value, not only for the event, but for the Open Web movement.

Professor Leonardo is an Industrial Engineer and Social Psychologist, specialized in organizational design. He was named Doctor Honoris Causa by the National University of Rosario (Argentina), and he is currently a professor of general management and organizational design in graduate courses at the Business Schools in Argentina and Uruguay. He has also worked with some universities in Colombia and Chile.