Transparency

Introduction

(last updated 4.12.09)

Open Source Ecology's main facility at Factor e Farm is noteworthy in terms of the efficiency of allocating donations and its nonstandard operational principles.

We have shown consistently that we spend just about 100% of donations directly on prototyping and product release work surrounding the 41 item-Global Village Construction Set. See the October Progress Report as an example.

We have not been effective in delivering product on schedule, however. Because of the experimental, high-risk nature of our entire development plan, and the constant strategic development updates - our development path is more serpentine than straight. We are aiming at a clear goal - the 41 different technologies attaining product release status by Year End 2010.

This will not happen within a 2 year period until we reach a $10k/month funding level - sufficient for prototyping up to 4 technologies per month. Each technology costs about $2k to prototype on average - so 40 technologies at 3 prototype cycles each require a budget of $240k. This takes 2 years at teh $10k/month funding level.

Our intent is to utilize 2009 as a year for building capacity. The steps to this are:

1. Attaining a $10k/month funding level via the True Fans Campaign and product sales.
2. Demonstrating a scalable prototype deployment technique for pooling resources towards parallel prototyping. Parallel refers to several prototypes being done at once.
3. Building necessary infrastructure on-site at Factor e Farm to make both prototyping and testing possible
4. The above infrastructure includes a core on-site team for performing necessary product development due diligence

This entire process is novel, and if successful, marks a breakthrough for Open Business Model development for productive enterprise.

$10k/month Funding Level

Our main strategy is to utilize a combination of the True Fans campaign, product release of the CEB press, and resulting mainstream media publicity to capture a major increase in support, both financial and developer-wise.

Scalable Product Development Method

No one to date has yet come up with a scalable, open source product and Open Business Model development methodology. Achieving success in developing this process marks a major breakthrough in civilization's economic system evolution. Such a breakthrough would convert the present scarcity-based, paleoindustrial systems to one of post-scarcity, post-industrial, peer-to-peer production. This is major breakthrough way on its way in terms of global developments in open source economic theory and practice.

We are currently testing a process for the Open Source Product Development and Open Business Model development at Factor e Farm. Our process is as follows:

1. Organize a local core team at Factor e Farm for leading development due diligence on the 41 GVCS projects
2. Organize a large, supporting, global development pool for the above.
3. Produce prototype designs
4. Review designs, publish proposals, and submit them for crowd-based funding
5. Outsource or insource prototype fabrication to qualified experts
6. Test and integrate a product ecology at Factor e Farm
7. Repeat cycle until all 41 technologies reach Product Release

To date, we have achieved minor success in scaling development from CEB press only to part-time parallel development of RepRap and Pyrolysis Oil. We have far to go in terms of achieving success on parallel development of a significant number of technologies.

The missing link to date has been the unavailability of expert and skilled investor/developers.

Recruiting Investment and Skill

Core Team Members

We have found to date that we tend to attract liberal arts college graduates to Factor e Farm. This poses a significant development challenge, since practical skills are not part of a liberal arts major.

However, it is not the training, but rather the mindset - of the prospective volunteer that really counts in terms of their adaptability to the Factor e Farm development program. A person has to:

1. be a focused problem solver
2. have an open mind
3. have an ability to learn hands-on skills
4. be in good physical and mental health
5. have a desire to eat their own dogfood in the business sense
6. have a deep commitment to changing the status quo
7. look beyond vanity production to the betterment of humankind.

This is a strict set of requirements for which most people are not ready.

We are looking for people who have the above qualities.

Core Team Developers

To become part of the Factor e Farm Core Team, each applicant must make a significant commitment to moving the GVCS towards completion.

1. To be considered for the Factor e Farm Core Team, an applicant must write a detailed one month proposal for their involvement as part of their application, and must write a more general program for the next 3 months. This proposal must in itself be written in a fashion that moves a particular project forward, by performing significant research or background due diligence that helps a particular project move forward.

2. Each applicant is expected to secure their own accommodations and comforts by investing into Factor e Farm infrastructure as needed to provide the necessary level of comfort. An applicant needs to evaluate existing amenities and propose an effective solution towards creating an effective working environment.

3. All investment becomes a part of Factor e Farm's prototype community, to be developed further as needed to deomonstrate a prosperous, modern-day, off-grid community.

4. The intent for Core Team Developers is that they, first, move the entire GVCS to completion, second, domonstrate an effective Open Enterprise Development process and facility, and third, that they either stay on-site to continue Open Enterprise Development, or go elsewhere to replicate modern, off-grid enterprise communities elsewhere. The basic intent is that of demonstrating a successful, productive, Enterprise Community, and, learning to replicate the same at other locations.

5. Core Team prospectives must include a clear metric of success for their work. An equivalent of, at the very least, $500 of value must be created per person per month - to attain the desired $10k/month with a minimum team of 10 people on-site. This value can be accounted easilty as: (1), securing cash donations, and (2), securing materials donations. Physical resources must be created so that the entire Core Team succeeds in reaching the $10k/month cash or materials support level. All other due diligence does not count in the monetary value - just the result of that due diligence in terms of securing physical resorces for building a post-scarcity village.

Agricultural production is covered by Organic Farming Volunteers, unless the Core Team applicant focuses on gene bank development. In the case of gene bank development, the metric of success is the direct value of plant/animal stock collected.

6. In general, Core Team members have to bring some form of expertise

Core Mission of OSE and Organizational Form

We are treading a pioneering path in terms of how Factor e Farm is supported. We are not a corporation, nonprofit organization, or charity in any standard, legal sense of the word. We have found that nonprofit, corporate, or governmental status does not fit the core mission of Open Source Ecology

Conclusion

This exposition should provide a clear explanation of our financial accountability