1. 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

2. A changing role for libraries

3. 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?

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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. Any questions?

10. Thank you! Víctor Jiménez – victor.jimenez@bitlab.cat
Marc Aguilar –
Sara Hosseini –