Simone Cicero @meedabyte

Shenzhen - Nov 30, 2014

Openness &
Platforms in the
Age of Makers
 Italy & Factory
Connector

2014 OHsummit
Co-Chair

Open Source
Platfrorm strategy

Startups & corporate

Consultant and Coach
in digital strategy &
lean innovation SIMONE CICERO
@meedabyte
VISION?
A Fablab is generally equipped with
an array of flexible computer
controlled tools [] with the aim to
make "almost anything (wikipedia)
 atoms like bits

Neil Gershenfeld Inventor of

Fablab concept
DOCUMENTARY

BOTTOM UP
10 years later PARTICIPATIVE
OPEN
SUSTAINABLE
 when production
becomes accessible
to people, were
changing the whole
framework on which
weve built our
society
I WORK
I MAKE
MONEY
I CONSUME
THINGS
Tomas Diez
Fab10 director + Fab BCN Manager
 From predefined
paths of consumption
where youre just
allowed to consume

I MAKE I CONSUME
I WORK MONEY THINGS
 to accessible paths
of creation where you
can design, make, fix,
tweak for you and
others.

I DESIGN I PRODUCE I CONSUME

THINGS THINGS THINGS
 towards
DESIGN
THINGS
PRODUCE CONSUME
THINGS THINGS
interconnected,
collaborative and
parallel production
DESIGN
THINGS
PRODUCE CONSUME
THINGS THINGS
models where you
can participate to
bigger networks and
DESIGN PRODUCE CONSUME develop new visions.
THINGS THINGS THINGS
from flat
world
to connected

cities
A new model
(Fab) Cities?
P roduct
In
CITY
T rash
PRODUCTS WASTE

O ut
D ata
In PRODUCTS

CITY
D ata
DESIGN DESIGN

WASTE

O ut
 Self sufficiency

Sustainability

Connectedness
Ambitious vision
but are Makers ready? Local jobs

Meaningful
innovations
Bourgeois pass-time? Innovation in education?
New renaissance in art and design?
or new industrial revolution?

makers?
Peter Troxler
to fulfill their promises, [makers and
fablabs] should consider a more radical
analysis of technology and capitalism
a warning sign
Makers becoming just
Superconsumers?
 Toolkits for user
innovation
"user-friendly tools
that enable users to
develop new product
innovations for
themselves
a key concept in product innovation
Eric Von Hippel
 user
"user-friendly customizability,
personalization, hack-ability
for the maker means
complexity for the producer

simplexity
producer
 Key effects of
competition
to meet
increasing
users
demands ?
- standardization
- componentization
- interoperability
- price competition

CC-BY-SA
Simon Wardley
blog.gardeviance.org
How a brand could answer
such a competitive pressure?
 - non standard
- non interoperable
- exclusive brand

become cult
(uniqueness)
 brand

INTANGIBLE ECONOMY
TANGIBLE ECONOMY

OEMs
networks

suppliers
INTANGIBLE ECONOMY
TANGIBLE ECONOMY

OEMs
networks

suppliers
- standard
- interoperable
- customizable
- adoptable

The other way:

increase
scale
being all different (but all the same)
friction?
How to increase scale & allow
user personalization and more
brand diversity?
A potential answer:
mass-market
customization
 from:

INTANGIBLE ECONOMY
TANGIBLE ECONOMY

OEMs
networks

suppliers
 to long tail markets

indie brand
incubators startups
creative experts

INTANGIBLE ECONOMY ENABLING PLATFORMS CONNECTING SUPPLY AND DEMAND

TANGIBLE ECONOMY

labs OEMs
networks

suppliers
infrastructure price competition & standardization!
Opportunities mostly going into the
INTANGIBLE component of the market:
Is Digital Transformation eventually
hitting industrial production?
4 KEY TRENDS
hyper natural products
the average power drill is used for 13
minutes in its entire lifetime. You dont
need a drill, you need a hole in the wall.
Rachel Botsman

access over
ownership
(renting/sharing vs owning)
new consumer ethics
for environmental
and social responsibility
ultra personalization
pushing (experiments) for a production phase
which gets closer to design and use
Key brands are already becoming
intangible and digitalizing
What external factors may give further
momentum to digitalization and
decentralization of manufacturing?
climate policies
 jobs policies
policies can contribute to fulfilling economic
potential, business expansion and social
cohesion at the local level [] helping to tackle
inequalities and social exclusion in their
communities.
Will the combination of these trends
lead to a leaner and more
decentralized production?
(in part) its already
happening
big players
pitching in
 -aggregate local
production capacity
- connect supply and
demand

manufacturing networks
 -aggregate local
production capacity
- connect supply and
demand

manufacturing networks
 -aggregate local
production capacity
- connect supply and
demand

fabrication networks
 - connect local design
capacity
- globalize discussion on
open/collaborative design

Fablabs & creative hubs

On Demand Manufacturing
On Demand Manufacturing
On Demand Manufacturing
Factories of
the Future
(today)
Factories of
the Future
(tomorrow?)
Beyond Open
Innovation?
firms should use external as
well as internal ideas, and
internal and external paths
to market innovating
with partners by sharing risk
and sharing reward"

The classic definition from

Henry Chesborough
already contains everything
Collaborative & Open
Enabling Platforms
as Multi Stakeholder Business
 Distributor

FROM:
Manufacturer Monolithic
Profit Chains
Designer
 Distributor
On demand
Fabricator
Niche operator
TOWARDS:
(customer agent) Participative
Platform Value Chains
Designer
NOTONLYMAKERS
CHANGEMAKERS
 Public speaking at conferences
Corporate and Startup Consulting
Digital Strategy
Workshops
Event curation and design

Interested in working together?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonecicero

PICTURE CC BY francisco_osorio
PICTURE CC BY SA jeanbaptisteparis
PICTURE CC BY SA Sebastiaan ter Burg
PICTURE CC BY SA NC Prime Numbers