Project Description

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RESEARCH AREAS:

  • Information Policy
  • Technology & IP Law
  • Ethics

CONTACT:

  • Western University
    FIMS & Nursing Bldg, Rm 2050
    London, Ontario, Canada
    N6A 5B9

  • acentiva@uwo.ca

ALISSA CENTIVANY

Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Information & Medis Studies, Western University

Dr. Alissa Centivany is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University where she works on issues related to technology policy, law, and ethics. She holds a doctorate in information, with emphasis on the study of sociotechnical systems. She also holds a juris doctor, specializing in intellectual property and technology law. Prior to joining Western, Dr. Centivany held research fellowships at the University of Toronto Law School and at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law. In 2023, Dr. Centivany provided expert testimony before Canadian Parliament on copyright reform bills C-244 (diagnosis, maintenance, repair) and C-294 (interoperability). Dr. Centivany has made many guest appearances on radio and television programs and has been quoted by The Globe and Mail, CBC News, Toronto Star, and a variety of other news media outlets.

Dr. Centivany’s current research focuses on breakdown, repair, and the Right to Repair movement. One project, supported by a SSHRC Insight Development grant, explores breakdown and repair broadly, considering why repair matters for economic, environmental, and social reasons, what impediments to repair currently exist in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and what the imperatives of a successful right to repair movement ought to include. In another project, supported by a SSHRC New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration grant, Dr. Centivany works collaboratively with Dr. Tarek Loubani and Glia.org to study breakdown and repair in the health care sector of the Gaza Strip, and work to build local capacity for diagnosing, maintaining, and repairing medical equipment in the region’s public clinics and hospitals, as well as other low-resource regions. Other areas of ongoing research include participatory policymaking in online environments, organizational sensemaking around public-private partnerships, and open access to scholarly communications.

Alissa Centivany, panelist at (Dis)Trust and AI: Perspectives from Across Disciplines and Sectors, Rotman Institute, Western University, October 2023.

Michelle Kaczmarek, Alissa Centivany (50% + supervision), “Repair Imaginaries: envisioning and enacting better relations in imperfect worlds”, panel at Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S ‘22) and presented in Cholula, Mexico.

Alexandra Marcaccio, Alissa Centivany (50% + supervision), “Transforming the Scholarly Publishing Lindworm,” in published in Proceedings of the 85th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T ’22) and presented in Pittsburg, PA.

Chad Currier, Alissa Centivany (50% + supervision), “Controlled Digital Lending,” in Proceedings of the 84th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T ’21).

Alissa Centivany (50%) and Jean-Philippe Vergne, “Developer Engagement in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: An Empirical Study of Cryptocurrencies,” presented at European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS ’18), Tallinn, Estonia.

Faculty Research Domains

Rotman Institute faculty members are listed below by shared research areas. Visit individual member profiles to learn more.