Saving CAPSSI. A case for more interdisciplinarity in European ICT research 2018-2020
We are a group of researchers that participated in past Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation projects (CAPSSI), and loved them. We learned that DG CONNECT is thinking of abandoning this approach and cutting Horizon 2020 funds for these types of participatory and interdisciplinary initiatives. We decided to speak up and advise them not to do so.

We plan on asking Vice President Andrup and Director General Viola for a short meeting to deliver our advice. Of course, we will be more credible if more researchers join us. If you support the effort, please sign this open letter. If you have questions or want to help in some other way, get in touch with nadia [at] edgeryders [dot] eu.

We are an ad-hoc alliance of diverse actors including Edgeryders (http://edgeryders.eu/company/home), Free Knowledge Institute (http://freeknowledge.eu) and others. We are small companies, civil society organisations, research groups, communities and networks, who work for a decentralised network society, based on co-creation, open development, human freedom and collective intelligence. We are the kind of company that would find it much harder to participate in EU funded research without programmes like CAPSSI.
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The open letter
To:
Mr. Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for Digital Single Market
Mr. Roberto Viola, Director General, DG CONNECT
European Commission
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Dear Mr. Ansip, dear Mr. Viola,

It has come to our attention that the European Commission is circulating for comments a draft workprogramme on the Next Generation Internet for 2018-2020.

In recent years, DG CONNECT had opened several new fronts for collaboration in Internet science. Technologists worked with early adopters, academia with bottom-up communities connected by the Internet, technological innovators with social innovators. These collaborations have pushed the edge of interdisciplinarity; with new, diverse collaborators, scientists thought new thoughts. Business model innovation was encouraged, even required as an essential component of a technical innovation's sustainable impact. By insisting on diverse consortia to deliver ICT related projects (as it did in the CAPSSI programmes), the DG CONNECT brought this about. At a historical junction where the EU is perceived as distant and bureaucratic, CONNECT opened up to new voices, and brought fresh points of views into the ICT research community.

To the best of our knowledge, the new draft workprogramme departs from all this. It seems that Internet innovation goes back to being the province of computer science departments in universities.

With respect, we think this is a mistake. If interdisciplinarity and diversity are not strongly encouraged, most research will not be interdisciplinary, and most research équipes will not be diverse – as they have not been in the past. And without interdisciplinarity and diversity, research excellence will inevitably suffer.

We are convinced that developing the collaborations fostered by CAPSSI is essential for long-term success: diversity trumps ability http://bit.ly/2lxXdO4).

We urge you to use your input on the workprogramme currently being drafted to ensure that adequate space is made to accommodate this need.
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Signatories
YULIYA ZADNIPYANA
Nadia EL-Imam, Founding Director at Edgeryders, Estonia and Sweden
Maurizio Teli, Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Portugal
fiorenza lipparini, plusvalue, uk
shenja van der graaf, imec, belgium
Luca Morini, Coventry University, United Kingdom
Merel Willemsen, Natural Person (PIE News), the Netherlands
Lorenz Cuno Klopfenstein, University of Urbino, Italy
Alberto Cottica – President, Wikitalia (Italy)
Chiara bassetti, University of Trento, Italy
Alberto Carini, University of Urbino, Italy
Wim Vanobberghen, imec-smit, Belgium
Andrea Fumagalli, Università di Pavia, Italia
Noemi Salantiu, Edgeryders
Olivier de Fresnoye, Epidemium, France
jonathan keller, credof, france
Costantino Bongiorno WeMake srl Italy
Winnie Poncelet, ReaGent and Ekoli, Belgium
Saverio Delpriori, University of Urbino, Italy
Seda Gurses
Henri Tuomivaara, University of Oulu, Finland
Winnie Poncelet (test)
David Rinaldi, CEPS, Italy and Belgium
Mathias Becker, European Institute for Participatory Media e. V., Germany
Francesco Botto, FBK CREATE-NET, ITALY
Thomas Landrain, La Paillasse - Epidemium - CommonGround, France
Eppi Centre, Institute of Education, UCL, London, England
Luong, INSERM, France
Ilaria d'Auria, NEREUS, Belgium
Dr. Anna De Liddo, The Open University, United Kingdom
Larry Moffett, Novagov.com, Belgium
alexandre karaziwan, Solvay Brussels School, Belgium
Guy Melançon, Université de Bordeaux & CNRS, France
Bruno Pinaud, University of Bordeaux, France
Daniela Paes Leao - The Netherlands
Rossana Torri, City of Milan, Italy
Zzepp Oss, Belgium
Natalia Fernández; Sdad. de las Indias Electrónicas S.Coop. http://laindias.coop ; España
Maria Rodriguez, Sociedad de las Indias Electronicas S. Coop, Spain
Mayra Rodriguez, Soc. de las Indias Electrónicas, España
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