Impacts of Open Source Hardware in Science and Engineering

Citation: Joshua M. Pearce (2017/09/15) Impacts of Open Source Hardware in Science and Engineering.
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): Impacts of Open Source Hardware in Science and Engineering
Wikidata (metadata): Q109577712
Download: https://www.nae.edu/174822/Impacts-of-Open-Source-Hardware-in-Science-and-Engineering
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Summary

Claims free and open source hardware (FOSH) scientific equipment would have large savings for research and education and drive increased output through greater access to scientific equipment. Proposes four policies:

1. "formation of an NAS/NAE task force to identify opportunities to realize strategic national goals and a high return on investment for creation of FOSH scientific tools": Identify high-ROI equipment per $V_{\text{USA}}=\sum _{i=1}^{N_{\text{USA}}}c_{j}\times n_{j}$ where N_USA is the total number of labs in the United States, c_j is the cost per unit of j instrument, and j is the number of j instruments in i lab; compare resulting list against existing and developing FOSH projects;
2. "shift in federal funding from proprietary equipment to the development of scientific FOSH": Earmark federal funding for equipment identified in first step, both traditional funding and prizes;
3. "creation of a free online catalogue of validated scientific FOSH with vetted peer-reviewed designs": Create a national free online database of tested, vetted, and validated FOSH; existing work includes https://3dprint.nih.gov/ and journals dedicated to peer review of FOSH
4. "purchasing policy preferences for FOSH for all government-funded projects as well as tax incentives for businesses to adopt FOSH protocols": Enact purchasing policy preferences for vetted FOSH