Communities of practice and knowledge management. An experience in open science projects

Abstract

This work addresses the importance of communities of practice in the management of open science projects, such as the development of free software and hardware. The objective is to explore the formation of communities of practice as part of the organizational dynamics of knowledge-based project management. The methodology consisted of carrying out a participatory action research experience in an open science project management space, in order to understand the relevance of communities of practice in this type of initiatives. Among the results, several lessons about the case study are presented, such as the conflict between product orientation and learning orientation. In the conclusions, a set of reflections are presented on the strategy of forming communities of practice to enhance the results of knowledge creation in organizations founded on open science.