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Introducing the P2P Lab: a Nurkse School experimental research spin-off


RNS research fellow, Dr. Vasilis Kostakis has recently published a new book “Network Society and Future Scenarios for a Collaborative Economy”, co-authored with Michel Bauwens (published by Palgrave Macmillan).

The book provides a sophisticated critique of the dominant political economy by investigating the current trends in digital collaboration and proposing the outlines of four future scenarios for the economy.

The research for this book has been conducted in the P2P Lab, a RNS experimental research spin-off.

What is P2P Lab?

P2P Lab is a research hub in Ioannina (Greece) that conducts social science research on the possibilities and implications of peer-to-peer practices in different fields of our everyday life from industrial production to agriculture and education/culture. 

P2P Lab investigates a new productive model – tentatively called “design global-manufacture local” – currently emerging through the convergence of ICT and digital fabrication technologies (such as 3D printing or CNC machines) that may have huge impact on economy and society.

P2P Lab integrates research on the p2p/Commons-oriented alternatives with the paradigm shift theory developed by Prof. Carlota Perez of the Nurkse School.

Projects of the P2P Lab

Lab’s projects are heavily interdisciplinary applying open source technology and method in various fields. The lab uses social science approaches followed by RNS to reflect on p2p practices in different fields of our everyday life:

  • In desktop manufacturing, P2P Lab has participated in projects developing a 3D printable wind turbine and a Lego-built 3D printer. The role of the P2P Lab was to facilitate these processes and to reflect upon the implication of p2p practices on traditional production processes.
  • In the field of education, P2P Lab has tested the social and technical implications of using open source 3D printing as a learning tool in schools.
  • In the field of culture, P2PLab facilitated and analyzed an experiment where a theater play was written based on rules and processes used to develop Wikipedia.

The lab's most ambitious project aims to implement open knowledge and technologies in the production processes of agriculture and husbandry.

This forthcoming project will attempt to develop collaborative open farming infrastructures with both global and local focus. These infrastructures could spur knowledge-intensive, community-driven and sustainability-oriented farming practices whose benefits will be distributed more evenly amongst its beneficiaries. The ultimate goal is to develop infrastructures for a resilient productive paradigm, which builds on the intersection of the digital fabrication technologies and the peer produced knowledge Commons.

In short, the project will be an empirical effort to document and experiment with the productive model “design global-manufacture local”.

Who is who?

P2P Lab centers around young scholars affiliated with the Nurkse School:

  • Dr. Vasilis Kostakis, the founder of P2P Lab, is a research fellow of the Nurkse School where he also defended his PhD thesis on “The Political Economy of Information Production in the Social Web: Towards a ‘Partner State Approach’”.
  • Vasilis Niaros is an engineer/urbanist and a PhD student at the Nurkse School interested in open source technologies, interactive urban spaces and do-it-yourself culture.
  • Chris Giotitsas has a MA degree on Technology Governance from the Nurkse School and is currently pursuing a PhD at the management school of Leicester University investigating the “Internet of Things”.