Call 4 Feedback: Open Source Digital Platforms
You're invited to share feedback on open-source digital platforms for humanitarian making.
We are part of the MakerNet project, www.makernet.global, which aims to create open source digital platforms to support distributed manufacturing of key supplies for humanitarian relief and for development. We want these platforms to reflect your needs and invite you to share your thoughts!
We envision one platform, Makepedia, that allows collaborative sharing of digital design files, instructions, and all the other information that might be needed to reproduce an item, as well as the ability to adapt and improve designs (version control), and for some authorized groups to tag or certify certain items (for instance, that they meet specific requirements or standards, such as for safety).
We envision another platform, MakerNet, that enables local manufacturers to be contracted to make humanitarian relief and development supplies. For example, it’d allow an aid agency to source essential relief items locally from existing small manufacturers. As well as for manufacturers, it could be a way to find skilled local makers, or machinery (such as 3D printers or injection molding machines) which could be accessed, hired or used.
Our vision is that these platforms will be of use to many organizations and people around the world, and we want to develop them collaboratively and for them to be open and useful to others, particularly folks active in humanitarian and development work, or who wish to assist with this.
We’re looking for help with 3 things:
Understanding the needs of designers, manufacturers, and development and humanitarian professionals around the platform concepts. We’ve separated out 3 different types of user - maker/designer, humanitarian/development practitioner, and manufacturer. If you identify as more than one of these do answer in multiple sections! Maker/Designer Survey Humanitarian and Development Practitioner Survey Manufacturing Survey
Understanding the current platforms and systems people use which are similar or related to our platform concepts. Are there things we can reuse or build on? (see workbook)
Finding others interested in this work who might be interested in collaborating on shared platform development now or in the future (express interest here).
Your help will support us in realizing our shared vision of providing systems and tools that connect local makers and existing manufacturing capacity to markets, and unlock the potential of the internet for sharing useful and safe designs and machines for humanitarian aid and development. We will share results with you, provided you share your contacts.
We'll be using initial input by Feb 11, 2017 to inform the current phase of the Makernet project, but contributions after that are still welcome and will help with future project stages.
Thank you in advance,
The MakerNet team including our partners
