Peter Troxler

Unconferencing as method to initiate organisational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the potential of available event formats for facilitating the initiation of organizational change processes. It presents unconferencing, a relatively new event format, which seems to provide unique opportunities for this purpose. It reports and analyzes the case of a large Swiss university which initiated its pro‐sustainability transformation by organizing an unconference.Design/methodology/approach – Researchers studied the effects of unconferencing and the mechanisms, which brought them about in a case study. In the empirical setting of a large Swiss university, a qualitative study triangulating participatory observation, narrative and problem‐centered interviews, participant survey and documentary analysis was carried out. Data were collected and analyzed at different points in time.Findings – Empirical findings suggest that unconferencing is an appropriate event format for facilitating the initiation of the pro‐sustainability organizational ...

Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs)

Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) are publicly accessible workshops offering digital manufacturing technology and electronics tools to anyone. Fab Labs continue a tradition of places for do-it-yourself (DIY) with technology for tinkering and inventing. They stand at the beginning of what has become known as the ‘Maker Movement’. Fab Labs aim to be the places where digital manufacturing know how is shared among their users. Particularly in Europe the Fab Lab concept has inspired grass-roots communities to set up such workshops. Fab Labs have been instrumental in promoting 3D printing, since these were the places where 3D printers were available to the public. Some Fab Labs were also involved in iconic 3D printing projects and developing and improving 3D printers. However, most of the current activities in Fab Labs remain recreational or educational. Meanwhile new models for collaborative production are slowly developing. Some technical, economic and social challenges have to be resolved. And Fab Labs will have to work actively on becoming economically, socially and ecologically sustainable.

How Will Society Adopt 3D Printing

In this chapter, Troxler and Van Woensel will try to identify the possible socio-technical changes that 3D printing effectuates and their larger consequences on businesses, the economy and society at large. To this end, they first track the emergence of three-dimensional printing technology. They draw the analogy with the developments of other digital technologies, particularly in media. In that way, they understand consumer 3D printing as the latest addition to these developments. Troxler and Van Woensel then sketch some of the next developments they expect in enterprise 3D printing. Framing 3D printing in the context of ‘industrial revolutions’ leads them to understand this development as part of broader, socio-technical ones that drive lateral power structures, distributed control and a networked society beyond the Internet in the physical realm. The authors then investigate some of the business and legal challenges for companies. Looking into these challenges leads them to matters of definition and scope in regard to product liability and consumer protection, and of intellectual property rights. Finally, the authors ask what governments can do to mollify concerns and let opportunities flourish. They provisionally conclude that an open-minded approach to 3D printing and the social-technical developments it represents is most promising.

Look Who's Acting!: Applying Actor Network Theory for Studying Knowledge Sharing in a Co-Design Project

Digital maker communities democratize manufacturing through hands on learning, trans-disciplinary work and open source knowledge sharing. Little is known how knowledge sharing actually happens. This study applied actor-network-theory as underlying theoretical framework to a co-design project in a digital maker community-the teletransportation project. At the core of this project was a basic digital design for a cup that can be 3D-printed. The study showed that the different network types re-assemble around nodes that result from translations and therefore transformations of the initial project idea and the code that allowed to 3D-print a cup. It was able to show translations and the circular movement in the network as well as translation costs, time effects, intermediaries and mediators.

From Material Scarcity to Artificial Abundance: The Case of FabLabs and 3D Printing Technologies

FabLabs are ‘fabrication laboratories’ that encourage the development of new methods of artistic production based on participation and interaction between peers. 3D printing plays a central role in these labs. FabLabs constitute an attempt to transpose the open source mode of production from the domain of software into the field of art and design. In doing so, however, they run the risk of encountering the same legal restrictions that have been applied to the information realm, where e.g. copyright law has been used to create artificial forms of scarcity. De Filippi and Troxler discuss ways in which the copyright regime has been countered in the information realm to turn this scarcity into abundance. They investigate how 3D printing could be used to generate artificial abundance rather than artificial scarcity, meaning that resources that are naturally scarce are made more abundant (or less scarce) by legal or technical means. They conclude that there are three main barriers to abundance in the physical realm: raw material scarcity, exclusivity of production tools and facilities, and improper access to knowledge and skills.

Idea hotel: Turning conventional business hotels and hospitality facilities into creative facilities that enhance productivity in the creative generative processes of their clients

In this paper, we explore the innovation challenge of Providers of Facilities and analyze the gap between the need of their clients, especially those from the “creative class”, for meeting places that support creativity and the traditional approaches and environments offered by most hospitality businesses. A concept of transforming regular hotels and conference centres into so called “Idea Hotels” which provide the perfect “ecology” for creativity and innovation is suggested with several dimensions - the economical, technological, physical, human and methodological ones.