The Internet of Futures Past: Values Trajectories of Networking Protocol Projects

The Internet was conceptualized as a technology that would be capable of bringing about a better future, but recent literature in science and technology studies and adjacent fields provides numerous examples of how this pervasive sociotechnical system has been shaped and used to dystopic ends. This article examines different future imaginaries present in Future Internet Architecture (FIA) projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2006 to 2016, whose goal was to incorporate social values while building new protocols to replace Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol to transfer and route information across the ever-expanding Internet. I examine the findings from two of the NSF’s FIA projects—Mobility First (MF) and eXpressive Internet Architecture—to understand the projects’ trajectories and values directives through their funding cycle and their projections into the future. I discuss how project documentation and participant articulations fall into the following three distinct themes about past experience and speculation: understanding the public, negotiating resources, and carrying project values into the future. I conclude that if the future Internet is to promote positive sociotechnical relationships, its architects must recognize that complex social and political decisions pervade each step of technical work and do more to honor this fact.

Sustaining Citizen Science beyond an Emergency

This commentary explores lessons learned about aspects of citizen science sustainability, such as open data reuse after a project ends or after the urgency of a disaster. It is framed to be consistent with emerging research about how the 2020 pandemic relates to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It argues for the importance of open data in citizen science, both in platform design and in citizen science outputs, to support sustainability beyond a funding cycle or emergency. This commentary discusses open datasets developed during the Ebola outbreak response in 2014 and the role of collaborative repositories in enabling uses beyond a single project. How citizen scientists can creatively contribute in ways aligned with humanitarian disaster response aims is explored.

Sustaining citizen science beyond an emergency

Digital volunteers can act as emergency responders through participating in citizen science. In these contexts, what happens when a project or emergency ends? This article explores aspects of citizen science sustainability, such as what happens when a platform is retired and after the urgency of an emergency. It argues for the importance of open data in citizen science, both in platform design and in citizen science outputs, to support active citizenship and sustainability beyond a funding cycle. This article discusses open datasets developed during the Ebola outbreak response in 2014 and the role of collaborative repositories such as GitHub in enabling uses beyond any particular citizen science project. How citizen scientists can creatively contribute in ways aligned with humanitarian aims is explored, emphasising benefits of open licensing for promoting active citizenship and humanitarian disaster responses.

The FAIR Funding Model: Providing a Framework for Research Funders to Drive the Transition toward FAIR Data Management and Stewardship Practices

A growing number of research funding organizations (RFOs) are taking responsibility to increase the scientific and social impact of research output. Also reusable research data are recognized as relevant output for gaining impact. RFOs are therefore promoting FAIR research data management and stewardship (RDM) in their research funding cycle. However, the implementation of FAIR RDM still faces important obstacles and challenges. To solve these, stakeholders work together to develop innovative tools and practices. Here we elaborate on the role of RFOs in developing a FAIR funding model to support the FAIR RDM in the funding cycle, integrated with research community specific guidance, criteria and metadata, and enabling automatic assessments of progress and output from RDM. The model facilitates to create research data with a high level of FAIRness that are meaningful for a research community. To fully benefit from the model, RFOs, research institutions and service providers need to implement machine actionability in their FAIR RDM tools and procedures. As many stakeholders still need to get familiar with “human actionable” FAIR data practices, the introduction of the model will be stepwise, with an active role of the RFOs in driving FAIR RDM processes as effectively as possible.

Exploring the dynamic influences and interaction effects of signals on backers’ investment in the crowdfunding market

Purpose As a standard source of capital for entrepreneurs, crowdfunding has recently gained wide attention in business and academia. With scientific endorsement, some research is conducted to explore the antecedents of online crowdfunding success. The factors that can influence the backers’ investment which is the key to success are information from prior backers’ and creators’ behaviors. Based on the signaling theory, the purpose of this paper is to systematically investigate the dynamic influences and interaction effects of signals with different forms (action-based or opinion-based signals) and sources (creator-sourced or backer-sourced signals) on backers’ investment behaviors over a project-funding cycle. Design/methodology/approach A panel data set of 3,010 projects with 640,625 transaction records from April 28, 2013 to September 31, 2017 is collected from a famous online crowdfunding platform – Zhongchou.cn in China and the negative binomial panel data model with fixed effect is used to obtain our empirical results. Findings The findings demonstrate that the work of different signals is significantly effective at the early stage of a project and decreases with time. Furthermore, our results show that there are both synergistic effect and substitution effect among different signals. Specifically, the direction of interaction effect depends on the forms of signals and the backers’ sensitivity toward that signal, and the interaction effects are also dynamic. Originality/value This paper has shed light on the roles of different signal types and their interactions in influencing funding behavior over a project-funding cycle, enriched the literature on crowdfunding and provided both theoretical and practical implications.

The National Project on Achievement in Twins

The National Project on Achievement in Twins (NatPAT) began in 2017 as part of the third funding cycle of the Florida Learning Disabilities Research Center, a program project grant funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development. NatPAT will have a nationally representative sample of elementary school-aged twins in the United States. The overall goal of the project is to uncover salient factors, including genetic and environmental influences, which contribute to the co-development of reading and math performance during the critical developmental period of elementary school. Here we present the specific aims, methods and materials, and future directions of the project.

Boosting local agency improves health aid outcomes

Subject Health aid effectiveness. Significance Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. To achieve this, there are subsidiary targets within the goal, notably achieving universal health coverage for all by 2030. Impacts Investment in early disease detection and prevention have yet to be prioritised. Sustainable monitoring and evaluation systems that track the programme through the full funding cycle will proliferate. Large private donors risk creating unviable parallel health systems.

Making Sense of Rewards-Based Crowdfunding: Understanding the Lived Experience of Nascent Entrepreneurs

Rewards-Based Crowdfunding has recently received increasing academic attention. It has been conceptualised as a source of finance that has reshaped the funding cycle. However, little is known about the lived experience of entrepreneurs using it to start a venture. In comparison to other, more traditional sources of finance, the monetary values raised are relatively small, and successful campaigns rely on a wide network of contacts on social media, who act co-creatively. Moreover, empirical research has largely used data collected by online platforms, resulting in a narrow focus on campaign success, rather than insights into enactment of the phenomenon. Therefore, research on the lived experience of entrepreneurs engaged in this phenomenon can contribute strongly to the advancement of the field. Drawing on six cases in the UK, this thesis employs an interpretivist, hermeneutic approach, adopting a sensemaking lens. Utilising in-depth interviews, online archival research and combined with the hermeneutic preunderstandings of the researcher, the study sought to gain rich insights into the phenomenon. The findings identify insights in three specific themes; (1) multi-dimensional aspirations, (2) complementary resourcing and (3) the practice of ‘entrepreneuring’. Further, from the hermeneutic consideration of the whole phenomenon, three approaches of seeking; (1) alignment, (2) sufficiency, and (3) flexibility, comprise key influencers in enacting their ventures using the phenomenon. The entrepreneurs have leveraged Rewards-Based Crowdfunding to acquire patient cashflow, market-traction and “marketing potential of persuasion” capital resources, hybrid activities which complement financial resources. Further, the findings show that the entrepreneurs leveraged alignment to increase the speed of tie formation and their ties are complex and dynamic. The identification of such approaches are significant theoretical contributions the thesis makes to resource theory, network tie theory and the broader Rewards-Based Crowdfunding literature. Furthermore, the study makes a general contribution to the study of the lived experience of entrepreneurial venture enactment. Future research should build on the insights, taking a contextual approach.

Trust Central Eases Funding Decisions With Data

The Children’s Trust is a local government taxing authority that uses property tax dollars to fund programming for Miami-Dade County children and families. To become more efficient, Trust Central was created and now automates our full business cycle. Data flow is solicitation → contracting → program metrics → solicitation. Agencies apply for funding, contract to provide services, report their progress. Their progress is used to determine future solicitation criteria. Data automatically flows from one module to another. Trust Central allowed us to move from using 5 data points to make funding decisions to 24 data points. We were able to look across our various initiatives to ensure that our funding decisions were equitable. Funding decisions were backed by data and easy to share with applicants. We created context and communicated funding decisions in a way that reduced emotional conflicts and appeals. As a reference point, we had 96 appeal meetings last funding cycle - this funding cycle no appeal meetings and only 19 review meetings; a cost savings of $15,850 in meetings. Another reference point, we spent 1 week reviewing data to make funding decisions last funding cycle - this funding cycle we spent 4 weeks reviewing data in a more meaningful and valuable way. We made $68M in funding decisions without any negative feedback from the community. Our relationship with the community pivoted from negative to positive. This is a first for us! We are now positioned to be a mentor for both governmental and non-governmental funders.

Increasing Teacher Efficacy Through Rural Partnerships

The rural teacher residency (RTR) program at California State University – Chico was a program funded by a Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant from 2010-2015. The RTR program prepared teachers through partnerships with four school districts in the rural region of northern California. This residency program was designed to provide targeted training and experience in co-teaching, action research, professional learning communities, and collaboration. In addition, RTR faculty hoped to impact the retention of teachers for hard-to-staff schools such as those with underserved students and/or in rural settings. The purpose of the chapter is to briefly overview the design features of the RTR program and to describe the qualitative data analysis of an evaluation of the program (i.e., focus groups, survey, observations/interviews) at the conclusion of the grant funding cycle.