FabLab.nl

Today eight of us spent half a day under the guidance of Frank Houben, to brainstorm about an on-line FabLab platform for sharing experiences, knowledge and projects between FabLabs, FabLab users and the general public.

Nine people brainstorming at the Amsterdam FabLab

We focused on the goals and stakeholders involved, as well as what seem to be the most promising starting points, the risks we need to address and the commitment each of us can make to this project.

We envision a platform that can serve as the fundament for individual FabLab websites and at the same time ensures the possibility of sharing content (designs, experiences, tutorials, great moments) across the different websites that FabLabs maintain, as well as bring the global FabLab community together. At the same time the fundament can serve as a basic website for new FabLabs to build their own web presence on, that can be quickly implemented right out of the box, including the use of existing content from other FabLabs. Of course it will be free and open sourced.

Joris (FabLab Utrecht Protospace) summarizing results from a discussion round

The Netherlands, due to the high number of FabLab initiatives here, is in a unique position to quickly experiment with using different types of functionality, and iteratively build a modular platform. We will actively seek the involvement of other FabLabs around the world that already have indicated their interest. The availability of multiple FabLabs in close vicinity to eachother makes it possible however to maintain momentum as well as find funding and resources more easily. That is how we want to make sure to get results quickly as the platform evolves.

We will document the project transparantly and have adopted English as the language to be used for all our work, ensuring the ability for the wider FabLab network to contribute and comment. Interested in being involved in our project? Or interested in staying informed about our progress? Let me know (ton@fablab.nl), so we may actively involve you.