Hackerspaces are becoming centers of liberal arts in Asia: NUS prof

Shiwen is a part-time freelance writer, aspiring entrepreneur and overall generalist interested in exploring, researching and writing. Disclosure: The writer is a community member of Hackerspace.sg.

Prof Denisa Kera drinks from a LED cup at a Tokyo hackerspace. Photo: Chris Wang

Tech startups in Southeast Asia are getting acquired, and more investors are looking at investing in the ecosystem. As such, the need to develop innovation capacity is more crucial than ever.

An answer to this is the open-source technology movement, consisting of hackerspaces, makerspaces, and DIY Biology (DIYBio) movements. Concerned with innovation and bringing the benefits of scientific and emerging technological developments to the public, these avenues are used for public participation in science and for meeting needs beyond the scope of for-profit enterprises.

Assistant Professor Denisa Kera of the National University of Singapore (NUS) has made it her career to study and participate in these movements. She is a faculty member of the Department of Communications & New Media and her research covers issues in philosophy and design.

She follows and supports science community labs and alternative R&D places, such as hackerspaces, makerspaces and fabrication labs across the world, with a special focus on DIYBio movements, consumer genomics and various citizen science projects. She looks at issues in science communication, of making science understandable by the public and accessible where it is not traditionally available.

Tech in Asia: What brought you to NUS?

Denisa: I was curious. I’ve spent most of my life in Europe and the only place I visited in Asia was Japan before moving to Singapore. I also had friends engaged in art and science projects in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. On a personal level, I was running two non-profits and worked at a university in Prague. I was burnt out and wanted to take a new direction.

What is your involvement with the open source science movement?

I travel to visit and work with hackerspaces, DIYBio labs and various other forms of grassroots citizen science movements around the world. As a researcher, I’m curious to understand what’s the best way for a society to interact with, adopt and integrate emergent technologies, and as an open science advocate I’m looking into ways we can support research and development in the Global South, consisting of Asian, African, and Latin American countries.

What is so unique about the hackerspace movement that makes them relevant to society?

They let science amateurs like me understand and get involved in the process of designing, tinkering and playing with various ideas and technologies. I’m also excited about their potential to support research in the developing countries, such as Indonesia or Nepal.

The hackerspaces attract some of the most interesting people you can meet in a city; the pragmatic visionaries who are not afraid to take on any challenge, but jealously protect their autonomy and freedom. They actually preserve the original mission of the universities, which is academic freedom.

Most people think it is about the freedom to do research, but it is more than that. We need a space or an institution which will enable citizens to develop skills necessary for taking an active part in the public life of their communities.