DiDIY in work and organizations: Personal and environmental characteristics

Luca Cremona and Aurelio Ravarini {lcremona,aravarini}@liuc.it of LIUC present a paper with this title at the XIII Conference of the Italian Chapter of the Association for Information Systems. Here is the abstract:

Abstract. The Makers phenomenon is at the center of both academic and practitioners’ studies. Makers are described as an emerging community of self-described DIY-enthusiasts, tinkerers and hobbyists. With Digital Do-It-Yourself (DiDIY) we mean a new phenomenon that largely overlaps, and extends the concept of “Making”. DiDIY is based on two main factors. One is the widespread availability of devices (including, but not limited to, 3D printers) that make production of both physical and immaterial “objects” much easier and cheaper than it was even a few years ago. The other is the growing accessibility, often through open online communities, of the related knowledge, designs and other data. We aim at providing both a characterization of Makers and DiDIY-ers operating in the business context of a manufacturing firm. To do so we, first, presents Makers’ relevant attributes and then we draw on potential attributes pertaining to DiDIY-ers acting within a traditional (i.e. SMEs or Multinational) organizational setting. We present expected outcomes and we draw research directions for future works.