Citizen science (the search)

Thinking
This is starting to become an interesting area to me, I think more that it is an interesting area within open design and how open design and open science are marrying up. This is the search for the application that is always needed. I am interested in NGO's and charities that could greatly benefit from this out look and direct application. this pragmatic view is only one avenue of how open design can have an impact, it is a new field within its application but has only been advanced by digital technologies... lets put it into perspective generations made their own flint tools for survival and practical issues.

Reading
A twenty-first century Citizens' POLIS: introducing a democratic experiment in electronic citizen participation in science and technology decision-making good referencing for the term 'bottom up' model, ie people that are in the field are the people taking the movement forward...

Collective sensor networks and future communities: designing interaction across multiple scales great project examples of citizen science, the best that I have read so far. I think that it is more about meeting the need, how are these objects, these services going to meet the need and cost that other things could not. how are they going to enhance the quality of life that was previously unattainable.

Data-intensive science applied to broad-scale citizen science commenting on the need for monetary intensive that is required. This is an interesting area, this is channelling into how can you create intensive without relying on the need for money... how can you move forward within different means.

Participatory Mass Observation and Citizen Science   This is written by Drew Hemment, he is truly inspiring. there are some great projects within this field and he is looking ahead, he has some really great sign posts for projects that he has been looking at. Simplicity, coherency, reciprocity, participatory, open to the unexpected, thinking creatively, usefulness and collective reflection. Read his papers and look at the way he thinks, it is great!

Citizen science quarterly this is a good publication, there is a mix of access so there are some great insights. There is also a mix of how people would approach this. worth reading for a different perspective.

Interesting finds
http://scienceexchange.com/about
https://sites.google.com/a/opensailing.net/protei/ open source sailing boat looking at oil spills... genius
http://www.teklalabs.org/ great pieces of lab equipment that are openly published.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1775485688/balloon-mapping-kits?ref=card bit of the work on kick starter.
http://publiclaboratory.org/home one of the most inspiring spaces that I have seen within the application of opensource and how they are developing tools that are open to all for the good of mankind.... we all like things that make the world a better place. The image is of an open source balloon monitoring kit, really simple used to great affect, a very inspiring project and a good reflection on how open design can be used.

http://okfn.org/ great space for sharing knowledge.