2013 Shuttleworth Application

See also Shuttleworth_Fellowship_Application and Shuttleworth Fellowship 2013 Submission

Intro

Old version at Shuttleworth_Fellowship_Application_-_2013_-_Marcin_Jakubowski

Text With Script Cues - Nov 25, 2012

I

Me speaking - in workshop background. Hi, my name is Marcin - reapplying for the Shuttleworth Fellowship. Last year I promised that I would complete the 50 Global Village Construction Set (show 50 icons on blue background titled Global Village Construction Set from Second 47 of GVCS TED talk)) machines. However, we lacked structure and process. I assumed that the ad-hoc development process that got us on the world stage in 2011 (show TED talk picture with prominent TED branding)- would simply scale. I got stretched too thin and failed - and went through major growing pains.

II

We did by now mostly stabilize our infrastructure (bulldozing vid from workshop in 2011 + well drilling + or maybe the beautiful backhoeing shots you have from 2012) - including 4000 square foot workshop (pan through workshop as in FF Film) and house for 10 developers ([YouTube backhoeing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6aStsbIPeA] + clear day with Karien + inside house as in Recruiting Video).

III

We learned a number of things, and progress still trickled in. This is a graph of our progress since 2008 for perspective (show 63 machines graph (63 Graph for short - see Prototypes_Built_and_Cost)). This year, we have built a total of 6 new machines (make these pop out of the 63 Graph by highlighting small icon then enlarging it) while expanding these icons in size) - compared to 2 new machines last year (pop this out of the graph in a similar way) - to bring our total number of different machines to 16 (highlight and enlarge these 16 and write large text stating '16 Unique GVCS Prototypes'). This year, we have had 13 independent replications of GVCS machines in 4 countries (pop these out of graph, and also write out USA, China, Italy, Guatemala in big type in addition to this, with images for each machine) - compared to the single - first independent replication of the brick press last year (pop this out of graph with Picture of James Slade proud by his machine, from Replication wiki page).

IV

The highlight of this year is delivering on the production optimization aspects of our work. My theory is that a better world (slide 21 of Bioneers_Script)- for me equivalent to sound governance (use Slide 24 of Bioneers Script) - is based on absolutely efficient production combined with transparency. Efficient production to us means building our machines on a time scale of 1 day. So far, we have produced the Brick Press in 4 days back in September (flashy workshop sparks flying + [1]) - we just completed a build in 2 days (show exciting timelapses from the last production run + show Barry smokin' a cigar while working the press - as in November_23,_2012_Collaborative_Production_Run) - and we look forward to December 18 - as we demonstrate the build in a single day - with largely a team of novices.

V

While one day applies to a rather simple machine like the brick press (show a good shot or action shot of Brick Press) - we are demonstrating that this applies to much more complicated machines as well - like the tractor (show a good shot of or tractor in action). In my TED Talk, I mentioned that I - "built a tractor in 6 days" (use actual clip and voice from TED Talk, 3:27). It gets better. We are now developing methods to build a tractor in a single day.

VI

The open source product development process is complex. It involves people, doesn't it:) It involves the design (show some 3D designs being rotated), build (show a juicy time lapse like in TED Talk), testing (show microtractor as in GVCS in 2 Minutes, and documentation (show scrolling through a representative wiki page such as steps). Here is our plan for the process and structure required to navigate these based on intense learnings from this year.

VII

First - on the design front - we are refocusing development strategically around Module-Based design (see Open_Source_Hardware_Modularity_Pattern_Language or Open Source Technology Pattern Language page) – as opposed to Machine-Based design. It turns out that it takes about 13 modules to build any of the 30 mechanical GVCS machines. Thus, we need to develop only 13 adaptable modules with attention to interfaces between these modules - to build a larger set of 30 tools (take GVCS_Graphical_Tool_Template and pop in the 30 tools listed in [2] (all ones outside of Multimachine, CNC Circuit Mill, Induction Furnace, Universal Power Supply, Inverter)). This extends our modularity concept radically - accelerating development - while making our tool set more robust and true to its nature as a life-size Lego set (show lego blocks from TED Talk).

VIII

Second - on the prototyping front (show footage of workshop action) - we are taking a major shift - away from full time prototypers - and towards 2-day intensive production runs with our on-site team (show team picture). We are further inviting guest Production Run Directors, such as our 2-day production run of Power Cube 2 weeks ago (show some footage of Tom and build). We now focus on extensive preparation for one month - and a rapid build in 2 days - as our standard method of development.

IX

To accelerate this design and build process - we are developing a tight team (show org chart from 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 3 more. We are recruiting a Product Lead, Documentation Director, Community Manager, and Operations Manager. We will continue developing our remote hackathons for coordinated, crowd-based development (show the minute 1:00 of [3] - and we are recruiting a high level Technical Review Board. The goal is to stabilize our operation - provide proper review - and it is part of Free Marcin Campaign - so I can transition to strategic partnership building and critical path refinement.

X

Field testing remains a major challenge because we are understaffed. To address this, we will develop pilot projects - in the form of NGO sector partnerships - such as tractor deployment in urban agriculture projects or house building in Haiti with Habitat for Humanity. This addresses the field testing issue - while providing product sales - and while feeding test data and documentation back to the project. This would allow our home team to focus on development and refinement based on the feedback. We are planning on committing our Resource Development Director to full time on securing such partnerships. We also plan to invite the intended audiences - our users - to the Collaborative Production Run of their own machine.

XI

On the enterprise development front - we will focus on taking key machines to market while establishing a funding model (show Slide 34 of Bioneers Script) based on production sales. We see the Brick Press as the furthest-developed candidate, but the Tractor (show night time pictures) 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. We have initial results that indicate significant self-funding ability from our off-grid production workshop.

XII

On the overall development - we will continue refining our standards and production tool-chains based on ongoing results. On the documentation front, we are now publishing a regular biweekly newsletter (show OSEmail samples), we are continuing regular video updates (show Vimeo page), and we intend to involve remote video editors more in the future (show some info on OSEdit?).

XIII

To sum up, this year we've learned a lot about what it will take to go from a one man show producing a machine in a few months - to an organization that could produce a machine in a single day. We are beginning to show results of innovative module-based design and production optimization - as a scalable method of delivering the 50 machines of the Global Village Construction Set - on a predictable time scale. Thank you for listening.

November 25, 2012 Refinement: Text Only

Hi, my name is Marcin - reapplying for the Shuttleworth Fellowship. Last year I promised completion of the 50 Global Village Construction Set machines. However, we lacked structure and process. I assumed that the ad-hoc development that got us on the world stage in 2011 (show TED talk picture with prominent TED branding)- would simply scale. I got stretched too thin and failed - and went through major growing pains.

We did by now mostly stabilize our infrastructure - including a 4000 square foot workshop and house for 10 developers.

We learned a number of things, and progress still trickled in. This is a graph of our progress since 2008 - for perspective - Prototypes_Built_and_Cost.

Note: All entries in this graph are hyper-linked. Click Edit below the graph and then click twice on each image to access the link.

edit

This year, we have built a total of 6 new machines, compared to 2 new machine last year. This year, we have had 13 independent replications of GVCS machines in 4 countries, compared to the single - first independent replication of the brick press last year. To date, we have built prototypes of 16 of the 50 different machines - with 63 machines built in total.

The highlight of this year is delivering on the production optimization aspects of our work. My theory is that a better world - for me equivalent to sound governance - is based on absolutely efficient production combined with transparency. Efficient production to us means building our machines on a time scale of 1 day. So far, we have produced the Brick Press in 4 days in September - just a few days ago we build it in 2 days - and we look forward to December 18, 2012 - as we demonstrate the build in a single day - with largely a team of novices.

While one day applies to a rather simple machine like the brick press - we are demonstrating that this applies to much more complicated machines, like the tractor. In my TED Talk, I mentioned that I built a tractor in 6 days. It gets better. We are now developing methods to build a tractor in a single day.

The open source product development process is complex. It involves people, doesn't it:) It involves the design, build, testing, and documentation steps. Here is our plan for the process and structure required to navigate these based on intense learnings from this year.

First - 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. Thus, we need to develop only 13 adaptable modules with attention to interfaces between these modules - to build a larger set of 30 tools. This extends our modularity concept radically - accelerating development - while making our tool set more robust and true to its nature as a life-size Lego set.

Second - 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, such as our 2-day production run of Power Cube 2 weeks ago. We now focus on extensive preparation for one month - and a rapid build in 2 days - as our standard method of development.

To accelerate this design and build process - we are developing a tight team. The core is dedicated machine designers - who can be either remote or on site. We have 2 machine designers already, and are recruiting 3 more. We are recruiting a Product Lead, Documentation Director, Community Manager, and Operations Manager. We will continue developing our remote hackathons for coordinated, crowd-based development - and we are recruiting a high level Technical Review Board. The goal is to stabilize our operation - provide proper review - and it is part of Free Marcin Campaign - so I can transition to strategic partnership building and critical path refinement.

Field testing remains a major challenge because we are understaffed. To address this, we will develop pilot projects - in the form of NGO sector partnerships - such as tractor deployment in urban agriculture projects or house building in Haiti with Habitat for Humanity. This addresses the field testing issue - while providing product sales - and while feeding test data and documentation back to the project. This would allow our home team to focus on development and refinement based on the feedback. We are planning on committing our Resource Development Director to full time on securing such partnerships. We also plan to invite the intended audiences - our users - to the Collaborative Production Run of their own machine.

On the enterprise development front - we will focus on taking key machines to market while establishing a funding model based on production sales. 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. We have initial results that indicate significant self-funding ability from our off-grid production workshop.

On the overall development - we will continue refining our standards and production tool-chains based on ongoing results. On the documentation front, we are now publishing a regular biweekly newsletter, we are continuing regular video updates, and we intend to involve remote video editors more in the future.

To sum up, this year we've learned a lot about what it will take to go from a one man show producing a machine in a few months - to an organization that could produce a machine in a single day. We are beginning to show results of innovative module-based design and production optimization - as a scalable method of delivering the 50 machines of the Global Village Construction Set - on a predictable time scale. Thank you for listening.

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 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 democratize the ability to use, share, and understand production. This is driven by my belief that abolutely 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 where 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 produced in the GVCS project 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 up-front 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 production down to a single day 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.On the enterprise development front - we will focus on taking key machines to market while establishing a funding model based on production sales. 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. We have initial results that indicate significant self-funding ability 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.
• 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. - in the form of 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 refinements based on the feedback.
• Streamline Production and Development Tool Chains and 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 Development procedure for creating documentation in an ongoing fashion. Refine Remote Collaboration Standards to create clear pathways and expectations for remote collaboration.
• 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 - CNC.org or Booktype. Define social media policy.
• Install Performance Management and Quality Control. Use Work Log as means to document, review, and plan 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 commitment to OSE goals.
• Reward Contributors. Establish contributor badge systems. Provide swag to True Fans. Avail stickers and t-shirts, and other swag.
• Clarify Critical Path - We are publishing a strategic plan and deployment strategy, a clear value proposition.
• Leverage Global Collaboration.For leveraging increased global collaboration - recruit Community Manager to facilitate contributions from remote locations.
• Structure the Team Ecology. Figure out an effective organizational ecology of Product Lead, Project Manager, Operations Manager, and others.

Recommendations

1. Dan S.- Second Replication

November 27, 2012

Karein Bezuidenhuit Shuttleworth Foundation PO Box 4615 Durbanville, South Africa

Dear Karien,

Factor e Farm Renewal Application 2012

It has been my privilege to know Marcin Jakubowski personally for almost a year now and his project and TED talks for sometime before that through the Internet. I am one of those who have replicated the CEB press in my own workshop and at my own expense, thus Marcin asked me to write this letter of support which I am pleased to do.

Replicating a CEB press may not sound impressive at first blush, but the fact that the blueprints and instructions were sophisticated enough for me to follow marks a major milestone for the OSE Liberator CEB press. You should know that I had already used many varieties of CEB press in the Horn of Africa for most of my adult life as a development missionary. I returned to the US to build my own self-sufficient village, anticipating my retirement and wanting to demonstrate a model of a global village from my experience in rural development. I searched for years for a press that was modular and affordable so I could construct my own house. I dug a dam and stock-piled the clay for just such a purpose 15 years ago. To my mind, the GVCS Liberator is the single most important technology for global housing anywhere. No machine produces the uniformity and strength of block for the cost as this machine.

The importance of that last statement for the Shuttleworth Foundation to my mind is that you were instrumental in funding and guiding the OSE model from its infancy. You watched Marcin and his skeleton crew crawl slowly at first toward their monumental goal. You supported them over the years, and they began to walk and work steadily. I think they have matured beyond mere adolescence as an organization in a remarkably short time. Yes, there have been struggles and set-backs, but all that comes with rapid growth. I’ve seen hundreds of NGO projects, and this one is no different. There are no short-cuts to progress!

So, here they are with a solid, critical mass of workers and enough wisdom to push into the final stages of their maturity—living and working with these machines themselves. Your funding and guidance have enabled this miracle of passion and sweat so far. They will go on, I feel certain, whether you renew their contract or not, but what a fantastic time to be involved as they can now relate to you in an adult partnership and begin to reproduce—which is what it was all for in the first place.

I urge you now to continue supporting this project as it enters its last stretch of growth. Through this final grant you will have enabled OSE to work on its own, to be strong and wise for others who will trace their footsteps and turn to thank you—as do I.

Sincerely yours,

Daniel S.

Kennard, Texas

2. James Slade - First Ever Replication

To whom it may concern,

Open Source Ecology has been a life changer for me personally. Ever since I saw Marcin's original TED talk, I realized how important such a thing was. The GVCS just made so much sense I had to stop everything I was doing and take part in it. It led me away from a desk job and got me into a shop on my own land working on building a compressed earth block machine aka "Liberator". How fitting of a name. Since doing that, I've become somewhat of a fabricator and work for myself. I really feel quite liberated.

This project has spread around the world now. We've taught, shared ideas and collaborated with just about every nationality. From high school kids to village elders, both men and women. OSE has brought back hope and courage to so many and I hope it continues to do so. With so much uncertainty in the world, projects like this one give people a chance to take back the ability to control their own lives. The ability to build what they need for their community and not have to rely so much on big businesses who dominantly exist for profits and not so much the people.

Marcin's vision is huge and I applaud him for not only having that vision but living it to the fullest to make it a reality. Having experience working with him, living on his land and knowing what daily life is like at Factor e Farm, I feel I can say this man deserves all of our support to continue making this project a reality that the whole world can share.

If I may be frank. I have a Liberator machine that we built here outside of Austin, Texas. Marcin also had us upgrade one of the LifeTrac's here to prototype 4. Between those 2 things so much has happened in this region. The CEB has brought the attention of thousands. I've talked about time and time again to people who either just show up with bubbling interest or entire groups who want to learn everything they can about it. I've even sold a CEB machine and had a local fabricator friend help build it. This is proof the project is on the right path. The LifeTrac is another amazing interest.

I'm part of the Burning Man community and participate in our regional event here in Austin. We took the LifeTrac to that week long event with a few artistic modifications to show the masses. It was the most popular, talked about thing there. This is an event full of outgoing, artistic movers and shakers, and we got all of their attention with not only the awesomeness of the LifeTrac's look, but what it could do and the fact it can be built locally with a small shop. I wish I could truly convey all the positiveness that I personally received from just that one event to you. It was so very powerful.

Thank you for your time, James "Bunny" Slade

Jameswslade@gmail.com

www.CreationFlame.org

512-695-9254

3. Anonymous Donor

To Whom It May Concern:

To the casual observer, it might be easy to dismiss GVCS as a fun hobby for engineers with too much time on their hands. I believe that GVCS offers the world something deeper. In my view, GVCSoffers the world a connection back to its roots. As parts of the world have developed, fewer and fewer individuals still understand how the modern world came to be. This is the downside of being part of a modern civilization. The art and science of producing "things" becomes increasingly relegated to corporations. Corporations exist to sell more tomorrow. What was once a comparatively simple tool in the machine of human development suddenly becomes complex, patented and impossible to maintain without a license and original parts. Corporations looking at investment appraisals and new market opportunities have become the guardians of whether a society will develop or not.

GVCS offers another way. GVCS offers a path to civilization to anyone with the will to learn and basic technological skills. It removes corporations from the equation and puts the burden back on the educational establishment and human innovation. GVCS leaves a trail of breadcrumbs from simple machines to modern civilization, documenting our best thinking and providing equal opportunities for innovation free of corporate restrictions. It puts humans with all their combined talent back in control of their own development.

It is for this reason that I have and continue to recommend GVCS as a worthwhile investment in the future. Through our family foundation, we have donated $116,000 USD to GVCS. So far, this has allowed for the construction of the main 4000sqft workshop and living space for the core team.

I recommend GVCS to you absolutely and without reservation.

4. Pawel S. - Cohabitat Group

Dear Karien,

My name is Pawel Sroczynski. I'm a founder of Cohabitat - an non-profit organisation based in Poland, Europe focused on open source development of natural building technologies and other necessary for building truly resilient small civilisations (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKgdFHkqG_s)

I've came to belive that GVCS is the most important project currently in development in the world. It addresses global problems by proposing solutions in the way that creativity and resources of the crowds are massively involved. It lowers the barriers for everybody to start a farm or build a house and openness give a high level of hackability, so the people gets a solutions that are designed to be easily changed to meet their personal or local needs. As it not yet reached the tipping point (as Linux did) where it become clear that open-hardware technology could resolve our most common daily challenges it still need help. I believe that this project could be a breakthrough when people realize that open, sharing, resource based economy could be a viable alternative for building thriving communities around the globe.

My organisation is planing not only use the equipment of GVCS but to create our own add-ons. In 2013 we are starting a project called Open-Ecosystem-Set (OES) which'll be complementary to industrial character of GVCS. Our goal is to focus on the housing, sewage, food, furniture and small-energy systems. I'm sure it can revolutionise the way people think about their habitat. By opening everything their need to sustain their lives, we can start a new era for humanity based on abundance.

Hope you will consider Marcins re-aplication positively.  ;-)

Best regards from Poland,

Pawel

5. Nikolay Georgiev - OSE Europe

Dear Karien and Shuttleworth Team,

I am Nikolay, from Bulgaria, living in Germany. In 2011 I quit my job and dedicated my life to Open Source Ecology. Why would someone do this? Well, I have few personal reasons:

1) My best friends in Bulgaria are forced to work in order to survive. They don't have the time and resources to develop themselves and contribute to society. According to our financial calculations, if nothing changes, their kids will be forced to do the same.

2) in Germany I worked as a software developer on projects for Fortune 500 IT, energy and automotive companies, and my conclusions were: I was used. They are not innovative and they care less about sustainability.

Similar experiences apply to the majority of the people in Europe. Change is needed and OSE is paving the way with its commitment to openness.

This year we started OSE Germany and OSE Italy. This wouldn't be possible without Marcin, the work at Factor e Farm, the support of the Shuttleworth and other foundations, and individuals world-wide. With the further development of the GVCS and the Open Source Economy we are able to continue localizing the production, creating social and economic justice, and thus enabling meaningful livelihoods.

And let us not forget. We are sharing all these economically significant informations digitally and they will be saved for hundreds of years. This means that now - we are creating value not only for our generation - but for all future generations. They will inherit and build upon it. Their well-being depends on our actions now.

Thank you and kind regards,

Nikolay

Review

Karien: It still has my character, but is much more clear. Then send 3 extra links. 2 main points - module based design - and more efficiently than ever. Also, cut out from What do You Want to Explore Section - Specifically, we are developing a process for remote video editing, remote CAD work, remote design and review sessions, and delegation of administrative tasks. - too detailed, while rest is more high level.

Fro, Q4. get rid of:

• Succeed in Free Marcin Campaign - recruit a Product Lead (technical lead), as well as Project Manager (to run design/build operations), so I can transition to strategic partnership building and critical path refinement - making myself more available for high networking for supporting the project. I see myself as being key to inviting collaboration from high level talent - by recruiting from high level contacts as independent contractors, as opposed to hiring employees.
• Refine Development Sequencing. Module-based design allows us to refine our sequencing strategy by sequences choices determined by the quantity of common modules. The sequencing is based on building machines with similar modules before building machines with other modules.
• Create a social platform for our True Fans. We are true to our crowd funding roots by continuing True Fans recruitment via a platform where True Fans can invite others to join as True Fans. We are currently netting about $5k/month on this, and we want to double this as a revenue stream in the background.