welcome to my homepage.
as you probably know (or not), I'm co-founder and VP of Business and Community Development of Kaltura, a software startup company. Kaltura is a leader in open-source video creation, discovery, and collaboration. Kaltura's goal is to create the world’s first and largest network of legally sharable and remixable rich media content.
before Kaltura i've spent several years in ithaca, working on my dissertation at cornell's science and technology studies
department (if you have no idea what s&ts is click here) and with faculty from
cornell's information science program (if you don't
know what infosci is click here).
i'm also a fellow at the yale law school information society project
as our world shifts from that of steam engines to that of search engines and our economy moves from assembly lines to lines of code, my research and entrepreunurial projects aim to understand and expand 'open' systems in a cultural context using insights from social
constructivism, as part of an attempt to develop a new theory of ICT innovation. My dissertation focused on understanding participatory information systems.
In the dissertation I argue that over the last several years there has been a dramatic shift in the role of amateurs, volunteers and hobbyists as it pertains to the production, distribution and use of information and communication technologies. The work presents four case studies that explore this transition and aim to explain how and why large-scale, participatory systems that are open to volunteer contribution are becoming important in our time. The cases include: (1) Linux, a free computer operating system, that is disrupting proprietary software models (2) BiOS, an initiative that aims to import participatory models into the life sciences; (3) the American Radio Relay League, a volunteer organization that connects radio hams in order to relay messages from coast to coast; and (4) the Ground Observer Corps, a cold-war paramilitary organization that uses volunteers as human radars for detecting enemy aircraft. The dissertation explores continuities and discontinuities between these systems and traditional information networks, develops the analytic term ‘open systems’, and builds an explanatory framework that shows how relevant social groups who negotiate laws, norms, markets, and technical architectures, or code, effect the social construction of these systems. The work uses this framework to explore the clashes between the ideologies of openness and enclosure. (contact me for a copy)
on this site you can find some of my writing, thoughts, teachings, as well as links to useful resources and to other people's sites.
I now blog on Kaltura's blog.
feel @home when you roam, and graze
responsibly.
s.
ps - questions, comments and suggestions about the site are always welcome!
email your thoughts
to webmaster at shaydavid.info