GDO710 - Week 9 - Communities of Practice
This week's focus was on communities of practice, their importance to us as professionals, and three main movements that might align with our interests.
Additionally we were asked to think about how we approach networking and to share our thoughts on both the maker and open source communities.
Feelings and Thoughts
While I have been around various communities of practice over the years, I have never really participated in any one community. I felt like this week gave me better insight into three movements that I have been around and worked with, but never felt apart of.
There are numerous benefits to community participation, but before this week I had not considered all the opportunities a community could provide. I think that one of the most important and helpful, for my work, areas that a community of practice could be of benefit would be in regards to shared resources. My of my work is currently done in low resourced environments. Technical knowledge is not as available in more developed countries and contexts. A specific community of practice could help provided the much needed resources I might need in Cambodia.
When asking to reflect on what type of networker we are, I wrote: I love networking in a one-to-one type relationship, where I can help support someone's work. I see networking as an opportunity to be helpful to someone else, connecting them to resources, my network, or other areas.
I do not like larger, networking specific events, as they seem impersonal and cold. I feel like the people at these larger networking events are only there to sell a product or service and not looking to help outside of that specific aim.
In regards to conferences: I personally avoid conferences when possible. I really don't like in-person events and networking, I usually feel overwhelmed by it all. I'd rather watch a presentation online and connect through email. I don't like the time investment it takes to attend a conference, the mental energy to engage and make small-talk with others. But I realize this is mostly my personality rather than a problem with conferences. I have enjoyed a lot of the conferences I've been apart of this last year since they've been online! Having a digital option also gives me opportunity to attend more conferences than if I needed to travel in person.
Networking at conferences is the main value add for my business. Everyone is there for similar reasons, to find a solution provider, hire, or look for work. It's usually a very targeted group of people to my niche.
Analysis
This week for my academic research I focused on a academic journal article titled: Organization of Free and Open Source Software Projects: In-between the Community and Traditional Governance. The aim of the article was to understand what the common governance characteristics of open source community projects are.
The results were interesting and I learned about the various informal vs formal governance structures. The structures that ultimately take place within an open-source community is not rigid and definitive. Open source communities largely constituted a dynamic framework and were adaptable to the evolution of their projects (Ferraz and dos Santos Júnior, 2021).
As with any of the communities in which we belong to, it seems that the community structures and governance start to reflect those who participate within the community. And as we work within a community of practice, the community will continue to evolve to fit the project and participants.
Conclusion
As I reflect upon the communities of practice within my sphere of interest, I am taken back by how many niche communities there are. I've come to realize that even for my specific field, technology and design thinkers in South East Asia, there are communities to be apart of. From the ICT4D and CamTech conferences to the design thinking communities from IDEO in SE Asia.
I learned a lot through my analysis of the ICT4D communities on LinkedIn. I noted that there seemed to be two distinct groups of members: 1) those who focused on academic research around ICT4D and 2) ICT practitioners who often worked on the field, or within the developing context to produce a technology solution.
References
Ferraz, I. and dos Santos Júnior, C., 2021. Organization of Free and Open Source Software Projects: In-between the Community and Traditional Governance. Brazilian Business Review , 18(3), pp.334-352.