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100-year plan workshop at the Oxford Internet Institute

The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a multidisciplinary research and teaching dept at University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet. We were thrilled to run one of our workshops there, and the conversation was generous and thoughtful about what a 100-year plan should comprise.

The group was a mix of PhD students, philosophers, library professionals, professors, and others, and the interdisciplinary mix really fizzed! Now we are working on what to do next with the group, and how to write up the event.

We also tried a new section in our workshop plan, which was to give each participant a sheet of paper and ten minutes and ask them to quickly write a first draft of a 100-year plan. This new element of the workshop worked really well – especially in such an engaged group!

Part of 100 year plan by Tori McKenna, OII.
Full view of all 100 year plans produced during the workshop.

It was quite surprising to observe how the minds of experts and academics from seemingly disparate fields (humanities, arts, and sciences) converged when reflecting on a 100-year plan. These are some of the key themes and questions that emerged: 

  • Stewardship: Who will maintain the archive, and who will maintain this maintainer?
  • Value / Goals: How can initial values and goals be established as clear direction for the long-term and how often will we review and realign these goals?
  • Diversified Funding: How can we acquire long-term funding from different organizations or individuals? Or should we rely on a single, credible institution?
  • Adaptability: What ways can the plan stay flexible to constant changes occurring in the world – whether it be technological, cultural, environmental, etc.?
  • Mechanical/Actual Storage: Can data be stored or distributed in different locations? 
  • People-Community-Oriented: How can we ensure that this archive isn’t monopolized? How will the infrastructure include people and communities? 

Archiving the event..

We’ve begun experimenting with different ways to archive these valuable ideas and inputs in the Flickr Foundation headquarters. This is our sample README file for archiving this event:

This is an archive of the workshop 100 Years: Oxford Chapter, led by Flickr Foundation in the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) on the 22nd of May, 2023. The group consisting of a range of academics convened to discuss flickr.org’s vision of creating a 100 year plan. There was a discussion (involving post-its) around things that have lasted more than 100 years, things that the participants wanted to last for 100 years and things that they wished wouldn’t last for 100 years. Each participant was then asked to draft a quick 100 year plan, resulting in 16 sheets of paper containing participants’ unique ideas. The post-it notes and 100 year plans were then photographed and digitally transcribed at the Flickr Foundation HQ.

Folder Contents:

100 Year Plan Workshop Notes Photos: Contains photos of the original 100 year plans (numbered and ordered in alphabetical order)

Transcription of 100 Year Plan Workshop: Contains the digital transcriptions of the 100 year plans.
100 Year Workshop Post-It Note Transcriptions: Contains the transcriptions of the post-it notes.

For more information on the workshop visit https://www.flickr.org/events/100-year-plan-at-oxford-internet-institute/.

Created on 13th of June, 2023 in Flickr Foundation London Headquarters.

 

Finally, many thanks to Tori McKenna, Amanda Curtis, Kathryn Eccles and all other participants at OII for helping to realise this workshop.