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SETTING-UP A FAB LAB IN SURINAME,

A PLAY ON THREE BOARDSPieter van der Hijden

Sofos Consultancy

2012 –Pieter van der Hijden (pvdh@sofos.nl) - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

FabFuse 2012 is the first international grassroots Fab Lab conference

Amersfoort (The Netherlands), 8 - 11 August 2012 – www.fabfuse.org

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pieter van der Hijden Fab Lab Suriname International Fab Lab Association Fab Academy Course “How to manage a

Fab Lab” Amsterdam, The Netherlands Sofos Consultancy

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AGENDA

Welcome to Suriname Challenges Stakeholders Three playboards

Mini Fab Lab Regular Fab Lab Official Fab Lab

Conclusion

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WELCOME TO SURINAME

First 3 minutes of “Destination Suriname”, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdZU4WgHgiY

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WELCOME TO SURINAME

Tropical country 400 * 400 km Flat coastal strip 80

km Hilly tropical

rainforest with some mountains

Sun & natural resources

Source: www.gov.sr

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WELCOME TO SURINAME

Population 80% - urban 10% - rural 10% - forest 500,000 in total

Economy Mining (oil, gold,

bauxite, etc.) Agriculture Tourism Offshore

GDP pc – Computed by Wolfram Alpha = USD 15.3 per day per person

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WELCOME TO SURINAME

City – Lively, shops, offices, bars, schools, but also many people (esp. young man) with little education and jobless

Forest – (no maps on Google Earth), small villages far away from city, boat transport, no electricity, low quality education, poor.

Rural area – close to city, low education, traditional, boring.

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CHALLENGES

Empower adults without education

Give all children access to up-to-date education

Develop community to fulfill its basic needs (electricity, clean water, sanitary conditions, repair)

Stimulate new businesses Support small and medium

enterprises to innovate Connect to the world

Invention

Job Creation

Problem Solving

Education

Empowerment

The tower of empowerment (CSIR South Africa)

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STAKEHOLDERSUniversi

ty

Colleges

Museum

Crafters

Cultural centre

Chamber of

commerce

Min. of labour & techn.

Min. of trade and

industry

Internet provider

Creative campus

Employers ass.

Research

institutes

Embassy

Bank

Big compan

y

NGO

Supra national

s

Techn. schools

Adult educati

on

Women moveme

nt

Training centre

Consultancies

Govern-ment

Labour union

Ministry of

education

Waag society

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STAKEHOLDERS

Subsequent initiators Waag Society Fab

Lab Local internet

provider Mixed creative

campus initiative Chamber of

Commerce and Industry

Ministry of Technology

Government

Recurring pattern Initial interest and

claim of ownerschip No follow-up actions Focus shifts to other

priorities Our policy

Who is the client? Which help is

appreciated?

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THREE PLAYBOARDS

Mini Fab Lab - private Regular Fab Lab - consortium Official Fab Lab - government

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MINI FAB LAB

OLPC - One laptop per child

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MINI FAB LAB

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MINI FAB LAB

Computer class with open agenda

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MINI FAB LAB

Arduino

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MINI FAB LAB

Simple cutting tool

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MINI FAB LAB

Game maker

Drawing by A. Fienieg, 1992

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MINI FAB LAB

Internet connection

Movie: Devika (13) (while sweeping) explains the working of telephone line, splitter, adsl router, wifi, mediadisk, ups, etc.

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REGULAR FAB LAB

Mixed creative campus consortium (NL-SR)

Mixed motives (social, economical)

Fab Lab Waag Society involved

Long term perspective1. Raising money for

campus2. Developing campus3. Developing Fab Lab

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OFFICIAL FAB LAB

Government initiated Mixed motives

(boosting high tech, connecting to the world)

Contacts with various NL Fab Labs

Short term perspective1. Funding available2. Space available3. People available

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CONCLUSION

Mini Fab Lab Autonomous and

flexible Experiences in local

context Resources for

spreading the word Regular Fab Lab and

Official Fab Lab Stay in touch Search for synergy Help where possible

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REFERENCES

Destination Suriname; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdZU4WgHgiY

Business model generation; a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers; Alexander Osterwalder et al.; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken NJ, USA, 2010.

Design Thinking for Educators; Design Team Riverdale Country School and IDEO; 2011.

International Fab Lab Association; web site; http://www.fablabinternational.org

Special report: Manufacturing and Innovation; The Economist; print edition 21 April 2012.

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THANK YOU!

Pieter van der HijdenSofos Consultancy, The Netherlands

www.sofos.nl – pvdh@sofos.nl

Fab Lab - Where to start?International Fab Lab Association

www.fablabinternational.org