A Commons Perspective to Understanding the Development of Information Infrastructures

Abstract

The critical review of the literature on information infrastructures has led to an identification of three key areas where future research needs to pay particular attention. These are: the multilevel context of infrastructural development, negotiations around that development, and intended and unintended outcomes emerging out of the implemented technologies. To understand the interdependencies between these three areas, this chapter explores research into other large-scale social systems (beyond information systems) to try to draw out some possible insights for information infrastructure research. In this effort, this chapter draws and adapts the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework–which was initially developed to study natural resource commons arrangements such as inshore fisheries, forests, irrigation systems, and pastures–while placing great emphasis on the complex problems and social dilemmas that often arise in the negotiations. The chapter concludes by highlighting the contribution of a commons perspective to understanding the development of information infrastructures.