Openness & Platforms in the Age of Makers

Simone Cicero @meedabyte Shenzhen - Nov 30, 2014

SIMONE CICERO @meedabyte

Italy & Factory Connector

2014 OHsummit Co-Chair

Open Source Platfrorm strategy

Startups & corporate Consultant and Coach in digital strategy & lean innovation

VISION?

“A Fablab is generally equipped with an array of flexible computer controlled tools […] with the aim to make "almost anything“ (wikipedia)

Neil Gershenfeld atoms like bits

Inventor of Fablab concept

DOCUMENTARY

BOTTOM UP PARTICIPATIVE OPEN SUSTAINABLE

10 years later

“when production becomes accessible to people, we’re changing the whole framework on which we’ve built our society”

Tomas Diez Fab10 director + Fab BCN Manager

I CONSUME THINGS

I MAKE MONEY I WORK

From predefined paths of consumption where you’re just allowed to consume…

I CONSUME THINGS

I MAKE MONEY I WORK

…to accessible paths of creation where you can design, make, fix, tweak… for you and others.

I DESIGN THINGS

I PRODUCE THINGS

I CONSUME THINGS

DESIGN THINGS

PRODUCE THINGS

CONSUME THINGS

DESIGN THINGS

PRODUCE THINGS

CONSUME THINGS

DESIGN THINGS

PRODUCE THINGS

CONSUME THINGS

…towards interconnected, collaborative and parallel production models where you can participate to bigger networks and develop new visions.

from flat world

to connected

cities

A new model … (Fab) Cities?

roduct n rash ut

P I T O

CITY PRODUCTS WASTE

ata n ata ut

D I D O

CITY DESIGN DESIGN

PRODUCTS

WASTE

Ambitious vision… but are Makers ready?

Self sufficiency

Sustainability

Connectedness

Local jobs

Meaningful innovations

“makers?”

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

“ …to fulfill their promises, [makers and fablabs] should consider a more radical analysis of technology and capitalism”

Peter Troxler

Makers becoming just… Superconsumers?

a warning sign

Toolkits for user innovation "user-friendly“ tools that enable users to develop new product innovations for themselves

Eric Von Hippel

a key concept in product innovation

"user-friendly“ customizability, personalization, hack-ability… for the maker means complexity for the producer

simplexity

user

producer

CC-BY-SA Simon Wardley blog.gardeviance.org

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

How a brand could answer such a competitive pressure?

become cult (uniqueness)

- non standard - non interoperable - exclusive brand

brand

networks

suppliers

OEMs TANGIBLE ECONOMY

INTANGIBLE ECONOMY

networks

suppliers

OEMs TANGIBLE ECONOMY

INTANGIBLE ECONOMY

The other way:

increase scale

- standard - interoperable - customizable - adoptable

being all different (but all the same)

How to increase scale & allow user personalization and more brand diversity?

friction?

A potential answer:

mass-market customization

networks

suppliers

OEMs TANGIBLE ECONOMY

INTANGIBLE ECONOMY

from:

indie brand startups

networks

suppliers

OEMs

experts incubators

creative

TANGIBLE ECONOMY

labs

long tail markets

price competition & standardization!

to…

infrastructure

ENABLING PLATFORMS CONNECTING SUPPLY AND DEMAND INTANGIBLE ECONOMY

Is Digital Transformation eventually hitting industrial production? …4 KEY TRENDS

Opportunities mostly going into the INTANGIBLE component of the market:

hyper natural products

access over ownership

(renting/sharing vs owning)

“the average power drill is used for 13 minutes in its entire lifetime. You don’t need a drill, you need a hole in the wall.” Rachel Botsman

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

“…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.”

jobs policies

Will the combination of these trends lead to a leaner and more decentralized production?

(in part) it’s already happening

big players pitching in

manufacturing networks

-aggregate local production capacity - connect supply and demand

manufacturing networks

-aggregate local production capacity - connect supply and demand

fabrication networks

-aggregate local production capacity - connect supply and demand

Fablabs & creative hubs

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

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

FROM: Monolithic

Profit Chains

Designer

Distributor

Manufacturer

Platform

TOWARDS: Participative Value Chains

Designer

Niche operator (customer agent)

On demand Fabricator

Distributor

NOTONLYMAKERS

CHANGEMAKERS

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

• 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