Atheneum of Data: Library citizen labs for digital innovation “Role of public libraries in the innovation ecosystem” Creative Ring Sum-IT! – Eindhoven, 31/10/2018 Marc Aguilar – Bit Lab Collective

A changing role for libraries

What if public libraries went beyond their current mission as centers of mostly paper-based knowledge consumption, and became centers of digital knowledge creation and community-centric data innovation?

The Bibliolabs programme Workshops on STEM tòpics + 3 citizen participation projects (citizen science, literacy skills, digital innovation)

Atheneums of Data – democratizing innovation Citizen-centered open innovation represents a new paradigm for generating social value for the digital age, making tangible a vision of empowering everyone to innovate. In the paradigm of the Atheneum of Data, digital data is conceived as a common good, a resource that should be accessible in an effective way for all members of society. Not as a new oil to exploit unequally, but as a new soil or new ground to manage in a sustainable way for the common good. A Evgeny Morozov quipped last week in BCN – “if data is the new oil, then who is the new iraq?” Libraries as universal public culture systems (like education and healthcare) – european social model

First phase (May 2018 — February 2019) Co-design of a model for an Atheneum of Data, a citizen's capacity building space with an environment that empowers people to make effective use of open digital assets to tackle community challenges. Four pilot tests in four selected municipalities in the Greater Barcelona area (Manlleu, L’Hospitalet, Sant Adrià del Besòs and Mataró), to train users and library professionals in competences, processes and innovation skills in open digital assets, as well as identifying the possibilities and opportunities awarded by the digital commons. Explore the conditions, requirements and opportunities to upscale the model, to generate a network of Athenaeums of Data within the set of 225 libraries of the Barcelona Provincial Council.

Project methodology Ecosystem exploration Ethnography of local community and search for key allies Adjustment of project plan to local conditions Ecosystem exploration Initial training of librarians and citizens Detection of local challenges, assets and opportunities Capacity building & pilot preparation Pilot scenario co-design Iterative prototyping of community projects Collaborative prototyping Local and international dissemination Scalability analysis Open project documentation Impact maximisation

Current challenges Governance - “who owns this project, you or me?” institutional hierarchies VS grassroots activism Governance - “who owns this project, you or me?” upholding the status quo VS maximising societal impact Capacity building in high-complexity areas – “you cannot touch this topic in this hood!” surveillance capitalism VS open digital ecosystems Digital literacy and open tech awareness – “they don’t care cos’ they don’t know, and they won’t know till they care” Governance: impositions from above VS empowering local librarians VS outside community pressures (and the risk of pressing self-serving agendas!) Capacity building: citizen sensor networks to crowdsource data (monitor air pollution - city council! / monitor energy poverty - local druglords!) Digital literacy: citizens as keen users of Google/Facebook/Youtube, difficult to break vendor lock-in when there’s no awareness

Any questions?

Thank you! Víctor Jiménez – victor.jimenez@bitlab.cat Marc Aguilar – marc.aguilar@bitlab.cat Sara Hosseini – sara.hosseini@bitlab.cat www.bitlab.cat