Open Collaboration

Definition

The prototypical open collaboration system is an online environment that (1) supports the collective production of an artifact (2) through a technologically mediated collaboration platform (3) that presents a low barrier to entry and exit, and (4) supports the emergence of persistent but malleable social structures.
Defining, Understanding and Supporting Open Collaboration, Andrea Forte and Cliff Lampe

A system of innovation or production that relies on goal-oriented yet loosely coordinated participants who interact to create a product (or service) of economic value, which is made available to contributors and noncontributors alike.
Sheen S. Levine; Michael J. Prietula (2014). Open Collaboration for Innovation: Principles and Performance

Presentation

Open collaboration encompasses all the dynamics of collaboration around informational commons or shared objectives that emerge through the linking and sharing of information made possible by digital technology. One of the properties of the digital is that it enables the creation of socio-technical environments in which individuals can gather around common issues in a decentralized way while at the same time allowing a multitude of players to contribute.

A project based on open collaboration will seek to integrate these external players, in particular by setting up an integration process to make the informational commons benefit from a form of collective intelligence on the scale of the Internet.

Open collaboration appears everywhere in a variety of forms and is structured around a multitude of phenomena. Collaboration occurs as much in the production of this artifact as in its administration and curation.

Contribution could occurs in a voluntary and self-selecting manner based on individual motivations.