Project structure - WP2

Work Package 2
"Creating and maintaining a shared knowledge framework on DiDIY"

Main objectives

• To produce a knowledge framework on DiDIY providing a common conceptual and lexical ground to the activities performed in all other WPs by integrating the different competencies of the interdisciplinary project team, in particular by harmonizing languages, approaches and research methodologies.
• To timely update the shared framework and validate the hypotheses grounding the previous versions of the framework itself on the basis of the iterative observation of DiDIY in the course of Project development, due to the assumption that it is an ongoing social phenomenon requiring the adoption of a diachronic perspective.

Tasks

T2.1. Setup of scientific and technical preconditions for a shared framework (M1-M4)

The paradigmatic novelty of DiDIY and its multifaceted nature require a cultural shift spanning, with mutual dependencies, the three layers of the individual, the organization, and the society. Informal and semi-formal knowledge elicitation and description methodologies and tools will be exploited to foster the constructive communication among participants and the identification of the multiple dimensions according to which DiDIY can be interpreted. Different options as for the meta-structure of the framework (e.g., a vocabulary; an ontology) and its degree of formalization (from natural language to, e.g., RDF/OWL) will be explored, examples of existing knowledge bases (e.g., IEC Electropedia, OBO Foundry) will be analysed, and a justified decision will be eventually taken. We will identify the set of research methodologies that will be adopted and define the structure of the framework that will be then developed and validated in the subsequent tasks of the WP. All partners contribute to this task, so to give a shared, multidisciplinary scientific background to the whole Project.

Task 2.2. Identification of partners’ role in framework feeding and updating (M1-M4)

Given the acknowledged importance for this Project to be a collaborative endeavour among partners coming from different scientific disciplines and with different scientific backgrounds, we will exploit this Task as a warm-up stage, in which partners will be able to introduce the expertise and experience of their work groups and agree upon the respective roles in the development and maintenance of the framework, and more generally the whole Project.

Task 2.3. Construction of the framework (M5-M6)

We will build upon the outcomes of Tasks 2.1 and 2.2 and develop the first version of a knowledge framework aimed at interpreting the DiDIY phenomenon and giving the appropriate context to the activities performed in all other WPs. Multiple information and data gathering methods will be exploited to this goal. With the collaboration of all partners, a set of hypotheses and research questions on DiDIY will be formulated, to inspire and contribute driving the activities of other WPs, particularly WP3 and WP4.

Task 2.4. Construction of the framework, revised version (M14-M15)

We will update and refine the first version of the framework, also performing a validation stage of the hypotheses formulated in Task 2.3. Again with the collaboration of all partners, a set of hypotheses and research questions on DiDIY will be formulated, to inspire and contribute driving the activities of other WPs, particularly WP5 and WP6.

Task 2.5. Construction of the framework, finalized version (M29-M30)

We will update and refine the second version of the framework, also performing a validation stage of the hypotheses formulated in Task 2.4, and we will finalize the framework itself in order to make it a shareable knowledge base.