Sustainability and Participation in the Digital Commons

Just as farmers depend on irrigation, pastures, and water, digital societies depend on networking infrastructures (e.g., the Internet) and digital devices that produce and support connectivity and interaction. We argue that what applies to critical natural-resource systems (e.g., an irrigation system or fishing grounds) also applies to digital resources. This means designing not only sustainable systems and interfaces for the digital world but also systems that require social and environmental awareness, while taking responsibility and recognizing the gaps, limits, and impacts of global-scale digital artifacts.