CHS: Small: Governance of Scholarly Digital Infrastructures

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project advances the current state of knowledge regarding the governance of scholarly digital infrastructures, comparing interoperability, interconnection, capacity management, and systems management. Digital infrastructures are large-scale sociotechnical systems that rely on the Internet technologies, digital data, and social practices that work together to create functionality across time and space. This research is motivated by the growth of large-scale digital projects designed to support the digitization, preservation, access, and reuse of information artifacts. The need for long-term sustainable computational resources for information is ubiquitous across all aspects of society including government, education, healthcare, and scientific research. The project is developed as a comparative case study in order to contrast and compare the institutional practices of digital infrastructures, and it pursues two research questions: What are the common and unique aspects of digital infrastructure governance? How do digital infrastructures coordinate the interoperability, interconnection, capacity management and systems management of these digital technologies and practices? The first research question focuses attention on detailing the ways in which digital infrastructures operate, make choices, distribute resources, negotiate issues, and offer services. These decisions both frame and are shaped by the combination of scientific practices, the participant's interests, current technologies and their development trajectories, and the structure and form of data. The second research question focuses specifically on the relationships among the pertinent digital infrastructure characteristics, digital technologies, and governance. Identifying and articulating these patterns and structures is at the heart of this project.