Fab lab and D Lab at MIT: Two different philosophies of innovation?

Abstract

International audience ; Between 25 and 28 July 2018, I had the opportunity to participate in a rich learning expedition organized by the Research Group on Collaborative Spaces (RGCS), an alternative academic network about new work practices (in particular collaborative work practices) inspired by open science and citizen science cultures. The expedition, called #hackingday2018, consisted of a set of visits and reflexive discussions aaout Bostos aaadei, eetepreneurial and innovative ecosystem. We followed a protocol combining planed and improvised visits going along with the flow of discussions and questions of the event itself (see the OWEE protocol for more details). More than two thirds of the visits were thus improvised. The protocol also relies on openness (anybody can register for free via an Eventbrite link) and long walked-times alternating visits and other seated times. Social media, blogs and videos are used to extend the event in time and space, and link it to other events and published research. Thus, serendipity, by chance encounters, reflexivity and narration were strong parts of this journey which led us to Media lab, Haaaaads Wss IIstitute, CIC, WeWok, MIT akespaae, TM'C aad diffeeeet MIT laas. Two of these visits allow me to make more systematic comparison between two different philosophies of innovation and their political consequences for society. We first visited the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), part of the MIT media lab, in which fab labs were co-ieted. The etee fo its aad atos is peseted as aa aa iteedissipliaaa initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science. CBA