Open Source Research in Sustainability

Most academics, who as researchers and teachers dedicate their lives to information sharing, would likely agree with much of the hacker ethic, which is a belief that information-sharing is a powerful positive good and there is an ethical duty to share expertise by writing free and open-source code and facilitating access to information wherever possible. However, despite a well-established gift culture similar to that of the open source software movement in academic publishing and the tenure process many academics fail to openly provide the “source” (e.g. data sets, literature reviews, detailed experimental methodologies, designs, and open access to results) of their research. Closed research is particularly egregious when it could be used to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world and this transition is hobbled by antiquated research methodologies that slow the diffusion of innovation. To overcome this challenge, this paper reports on several experiments to embrace the use of open source methodologies in research for applied sustainability. Open-access and open-edit Internet technologies were used as both real-time research tools and a means of disseminating findings on appropriate technology and sustainability-related research to the broadest possible audience. The results of experiments on open source research found that more rapid deployment of sustainability technologies is possible by building on the foundations of the hacker ethic with i) massive peer-review in the development of background material and experimental design, ii) increased visibility, which leads to iii) increased funding opportunities and improved student recruitment, and iv) improved student research-related training and education. Introduction The vast majority of academic research is not focused on problems related to sustainability and surprisingly, even much of it that is, is effectively removed from deployment by intellectual property (IP) law (e.g. patents and copyrights). The results of this restricted and closed model of technological development and deployment contribute to environmental desecration and the current global ecological decline, widespread poverty and social injustice seen around the globe, which is directly responsible for a morally and ethically unacceptable level of human suffering and death. This waste of human life could be prevented by known (to humanity as a whole) technologies, many of which are simply not available to those who need it. Availability is restricted by both the cost of access (such as pay-to-view