Promises and Perils of Open Source Technologies for Development: Can the “Subaltern” Research and Innovate?

The paper summarizes the current state of the “Openness Paradigm” for development, with a focus on open source hardware and the related issues of open science, open data, and open access. It focuses on how such efforts support more equal collaborations between North and South on open science and citizen projects. It also discusses these efforts as an example of an inclusive Research and Development (R&D) agenda different from the traditional practice of technology transfer, which enforces the hierarchical notion of “development.” We apply the present postcolonial studies discourse along with contemporary discussions in the west on public participation in science, as a framework to discuss Technology for Development (Tech4Dev). Thus, bringing attention to nontraditional formats and institutions, and new institution-community relations, as examples of a more democratic and inclusive Tech4Dev agenda.