A Methodology to Analyze the Structure of Collaborative Technological Innovations: The Case of UPSat

Abstract

The broad expansion of digital collaboration tools has led to the emergence of novel modes of collaboration, especially in the field of new technology development. However, the relationship between the architecture of a technology thus developed, on the one hand, and the structure of the underpinning collaboration, on the other, remains enigmatic. The efficiency of standard analytic methods to analyse collaboration patterns is limited, especially when the collaboration concern hybrid (both paid and voluntary) contributors and when the technologies under development are new. This paper introduces a new method, the Contribution Matrix (CM), to analyze the relationship between technical architecture and structure of contributions. Tackling the open challenge of analysing the emergence of new technologies, this paper introduces a new method, the Contribution Matrix (CM), to analyze the relationship between technical architecture and structure of contributions. The value of CM is illustrated employing the case of Cubestat development process by a joint team of University researchers and enterprise developers.