Shuttleworth Fellowship Application - 2014 - Marcin Jakubowski

Application Video

2013 Shuttleworth Application - Marcin Jakubowski (re-edit) from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo.

See also Shuttleworth Fellowship 2013 Video Script.

4 Application Questions

Describe the world as it is.

(a description of the status quo and context in which you will be working)

It is my belief that an open culture of collaboration has the potential to accelerate innovation and solve pressing world issues faster than they are created. However, most enterprises behave contrary to this basic possibility. Last year, spending by Apple and Google on patents exceeded spending on research and development of new products.

Why is the potential of collaboration so strong in my mind? I was born in Poland. My grandfather was in the Polish underground derailing German trains in WWII, and my grandmother was in a concentration camp. When I was 7 years old – tanks rolled down our streets - no - it wasn't a parade. These were times of Martial Law behind the iron curtain - a clear state of material scarcity - where I had to wait in line for butter and meat. I never stopped thinking about the terrible things that happen when resources are scarce and people fight over opportunity.

These memories fuel my belief in Freedom. I believe that true freedom - the most essential type of freedom - starts with our individual ability to use natural resources to free ourselves from material constraints. Wherever material scarcity exists in the world, you find geopolitical hotspots, resource conflicts, unstable debilitating economies – you see impoverished isolated beings powerless to take care of themselves and live the healthy productive lives they desire.

I believe the big challenge to producing true freedom is bypassing the artificial roadblocks of scarcity, to give as many people as possible access to know-how and the right tools so they can convert their environment’s abundant raw resources into personal good and freedom. And I believe the answer to this planetary pickle is the open source economy - an economy based on Absolutely Efficient Production and Transparency.

What change do you want to make?

(a description of what you want to change about the status quo, in the world, your personal vision for this area)

I want to create the open source economy.

To do this, I want to open-source material production as a prerequisite. Production is power. I want to open up the ability to use, share, and understand production. This is driven by my belief that absolutely efficient production and transparency are the cornerstones of a better world - defined as a world of sound governance.

To create open source material production, we are developing the 50 Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) technologies for creating infrastructures of small scale civilizations with modern comforts. I am committed to removing material scarcity as the underlying force driving human relations, personal and political – by making access to material security a universal human condition. By developing enabling tools and packing open source information density on the smallest physical scale - I would like to demonstrate that advanced civilization can be build on the scale of any land parcel, using its local resources.

I am currently re-framing the project on threefold positioning: (1) absolutely efficient production (open source economy grounded on modular, interoperable, lifetime design of systems); (2) the most collaborative project in the world for getting there (transparency); (3) ethical approach for getting there.

The open source economy has deep economic implications for post-scarcity economics - where a repository of open design fuels distributed, flexible, digital fabrication on an equal playing field. In such a world - everyone has access to the best design. I would like to create the Ubuntu of open hardware as the means. To clarify, the scope is much greater than the 50 GVCS tools. The open hardware development platform that we are building is intended to provide a solid economic base for open-sourcing of the entire economy. This means making open source economic development an acceptable paradigm in society. I want to pursue open source economic development by means of Distributive Enterprise.

What do you want to explore?

(a description of the innovations or questions you would like to explore during the fellowship year)

To get to efficient, module-based, open production - and thereby a step closer to the Open Source Economy:

I would like to explore the limits of open source production as a viable option competitive with industry standard mass production. Specifically, I would like to cater to the value of customization and user involvement in the production process. This addresses individuals' desire for meaning and purpose that comes from being able to create one's own environment. I want to show that open sharing of powerful economic processes can indeed have a major impact on the global economy - with open source product development as the key to that transition.

Our larger goal on the 5-10 year time scale is demonstrating the proof of principle that an entire industrial economy can be created entirely from common resources found on any parcel of land - with the limit reaching even to metals and semiconductors.

I want to explore how modular design can transform the way products are made. I want to explore the limits of interoperability between modules - to set new standards of coordination within the industrial system. I want to explore how interface design standards, standard modules, and a smaller set of standard parts in general - can increase the efficiency of machines, extend their lifetime towards lifetime design, while reducing initial and operating costs significantly. This is all without sacrificing performance and beauty.

On the organizational front, I want to explore the creation of the most collaborative project in the world for open product development. We are pushing the limits of transparency and inclusion. On the process documentation front, I would like to demonstrate how well-designed and well-documented processes can be delegated to remote collaborators - such that staffing costs are reduced drastically via the appropriate social platform - catering to meaningful work and contributions that fill people with purpose. I want to explore the limits of lean and transparent organizational structure for making this happen - as a transparent organization with a culture of open - and effective - documentation.

I want to use these learnings to explore much larger implications - of how absolutely efficient production, transparency, and ethics create sound governance. This applies at the level of our budding organization, but can be extended to the larger scale of nations. By creating an Organization That Works, I want to explore how that relates to a World That Works.

What are you going to do to get there?

(a description of what you actually plan to do during the year)

• Build Team. - See Team Sequencing Rationale. The core is dedicated machine designers - who can be either remote or on site. We have 2 machine designers already, and are recruiting 4 more. We are recruiting a Product Lead, Documentation Director, Community Manager, and Operations Manager.
• Shift to Module Based Design. - On the design front - we are refocusing development strategically around Module-Based design – as opposed to Machine-Based design. It turns out that it takes about 13 modules to build any of the 30 mechanical GVCS machines. To this end, we are developing these 13 adaptable modules with attention to interfaces between these modules - to build a larger set of 30 tools. We are doing the same for electronics and precision machine modules. The modules determine our rollout sequencing, and we are publishing a white paper on the GVCS Module Ecology to inform the module design effort. By publishing interface design standards and critical design integration considerations - we are clarifying the specifications for future developers - reducing the on-boarding time of new designers significantly.
• Optimize Prototype Building. We are optimizing machine builds down to a single-day of production time. We aim for a 1-day build of the brick press in December. We aim to optimize several more machines to 1-day production times - including Tractor, Microtractor, Bulldozer, Power Cube, Soil Pulverizer, and Backhoe - as proof of concept that any of our GVCS machines can be taken down to a single day of production.
• Optimize Production. We are optimizing production to demonstrate one-day builds of heavy machinery for $5k/day net production earnings. We are considering hiring a full time production director to run these production runs as 1 day events - netting significant revenue for growth of the organization. We see the Brick Press as the furthest-developed candidate, but the Tractor is close second and it has a much larger market. If we achieve the efficient 1 day production run per machine - we will be well-positioned to fund additional growth from our off-grid production workshop.
• Shift to Collaborative Production Runs for Prototype Builds. On the prototyping front - we are taking a major shift - away from full time prototypers - and towards 2-day intensive production runs with our on-site team. We are further inviting guest Production Run Directors from collaborating open source projects. We will shift focus on extensive preparation for one month - and a rapid build in 1-2 days - as our standard method of development. To facilitate production - we also plan to invite the intended audiences - our users - to the Collaborative Production Run of their own machine.
• Develop Remote Collaboration. We are recruiting a Community Manager to manage remote technical contributions, including developing our remote hackathons - Flash Mobs - for coordinated, crowd-based development. Refine Remote Collaboration Standards to create clear pathways and expectations for remote collaboration.
• Install Proper Review. We are recruiting a high level Technical Review Board for design review and fabrication optimization. This will add our capacity to distill rapidly to the best industry standards - and modify them for our purposes.
• Address field testing needs via pilot projects. - Utilize NGO sector partnerships - such as tractor deployment in urban agriculture projects or house-building in Haiti with Habitat for Humanity. This addresses product sales at the same time that it feeds test data and documentation back to the project. This would allow our home team to focus on product refinements based on the feedback.
• Streamline Production and Development Tool-Chains/Processes. Refine physical production tool-chains based on ongoing results, starting with full deployment of CNC Torch Table and Ironworker Machine. Streamline complex development path to 24 mission critical steps while creating documentation in an ongoing fashion.
• Document and Publish. On the documentation front, recruit Documentation Director to assure that all the machines follow open source hardware documentation standards and to ensure that processes are documented equally well for transparency. Develop documentation standards. Continue publishing a regular biweekly newsletter, continue weekly video updates, and create a system to involve remote video editors in the future. Define publishing platform - CNX.org or Booktype. Define social media strategy.
• Install Performance Management and Quality Control. Use Work Log as means to document, review, and plan team members' work product on a weekly basis. This turns into monthly and quarterly reports. Define quality control standards for production.
• Define Brand Identity. Define chapters policy based on certification badges for the level of involvement in OSE.
• Reward Contributors. Establish contributor badge system.
• Clarify Critical Path - We are publishing a strategic plan, deployment strategy, rollout sequencing, and a clear value proposition.
• Structure the Team Ecology. Refine an effective organizational ecology of Product Lead, Project Manager, Operations Manager, and others. Figure out how to scale these roles.