OpenKollab

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/openkollab/topics

• An Update of a More Personal Nature [1 Update]

Suresh Fernando <suresh@radical-inclusion.com> Apr 05 01:37PM -0700 ^


 
Hi Everyone,
 
No doubt everyone has noticed my absence for the list over the course of the
last few weeks. In the following I want to both explain why this is the
case, persuade all of you that I am no less committed to what I am trying to
accomplish, and provide more recent members of the group some context.
Changing the world is a marathon not a sprint…
 
Also, as you can see, I am presenting the following in terms of various
stages in the evolution of OpenKollab. Clearly whatever happens next will
represent yet another phase.
 
What I would like to see is that others realize that this group of 240
strong represent an opportunity for you. I invite you to take ownership of
this space…
 
 
In short, I have had to refocus because I am under financial pressure
personally and need to solve that problem in the short term. My hope is to
do this within the context of the OK related work, but the priority is to
sustain myself and I will do so in whatever way is required. My idealism and
uncompromising commitment to trying to introduce highly innovative models
and to bring about systemic change has caught up with me in the short term.
 
I find this ironic since I am trying to develop a funding model ;-) I must
say that it is unclear to me how much more a funder can expect of a
pre-proof of concept project than I have put into developing the OK models,
and the fact that it is a struggle to garner support from the funding
community simply underscores that I am right about the problem that needs to
be solved.
 
Therefore note that my absence from the OK list does not mean that I am less
convinced about the viability of the models that I am introducing… also
note that I have yet to have a single person tell me that what I am
proposing does not make sense. What I am having difficulty in is getting
them to fund the project!
 
 
*History and Evolution of OpenKollab*
The OpenKollab project was founded in July 2009 by myself Stephan Dohrn and
Matt Cooperidder shortly after Participation Camp, an unconference that Matt
organized in New York focusing on issues relating to participatory
government. The group was formed because we realized that there was a thirst
amongst participants at PCamp to continue to collaborate after the 2-day
event, but the infrastructure and processes were not in place to enable
this.
 
At that stage of the project, we simply convened an initial committee of
interested parties, set up a wiki <http://wiki.openkollab.com/Home>(which is
currently down), organized weekly IRC chats and explored a range of
different ideas relating to open collaboration, collaborative communities,
technology infrastructure and the like.
 
This was a period where many ideas were thrown into the mix and there was
little coordinated activity.
 
During this period we also explored various co-governance models etc.
Nothing was ever formalized and various people have contributed in various
ways to the group. Special mention needs to be given to Sam Rose and the
Forward Foundation who contributed a lot at that stage of the project.
 
Importantly, everyone that has participated in the project did so on a
volunteer basis and, with the exception of myself, OpenKollab has been no
one else’s central focus.
 
*Commencing the Next Phase: introducing project matching*
 
In the last few months, Stephan and Matt took a back seat as they focused on
other projects. In doing so they gave me the scope to step up and drive the
project. Simultaneous with this was a presentation that I gave in November
at the Media Ecologies
<http://www.espach.salford.ac.uk/sssi/p2p/index.html>conference in
Manchester, UK, where I first introduced the idea of how to
use meta-data to do project matching. In giving this
presentatio<http://www.slideshare.net/sureshf/openkollab-project-matching>n.
I connected with a number of great people who had related interests, and
this provided me with the impetus to really drive forward for the next
several months to develop my ideas and to grow the OpenKollab community
(membership increased from 60-240).
 
The central idea when thinking about project matching is that meta-data
about projects can result in potential collaborative matches in the same way
that meta-data on a dating site can result in potential romantic matches.
 
These ideas, therefore, relate to information modeling and technology
architecture and are central to the longer term vision of connecting
projects.
 
*Capacity Building and Collaborative Funding Models*
 
When I was in the UK I also arranged meetings with a number of social
venture funding groups. My conclusion from these meetings (and what I have
learned from talking to many social entrepreneurs) is that what is missing
is seed (pre-proof of concept) funding and that collaborative strategies
could be utilized to offset investor risk. This model was first described in
the Ecosystem Pooled Fund
<http://www.slideshare.net/sureshf/openkollab-pooled-fund>presentation and
later substantially refined in the following paper
<http://www.slideshare.net/sureshf/ecosystem-social-ventures>which best
represents the idea of how collaboration can offset financial risk for
investors.
 
In refining this model, I have started to develop the notion of an
ecosystem;<https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASJ9wl9qbZEzZGM0Z2Jnc2pfMTQ4MG5zNjNmY2Rw&hl=en>a
model for taking a systems approach to the relationship between
organizations. To understand why I think that this is the view that we need
to take, one needs to have a deep understanding of the power of
communications technology to create community. One must, for example,
understand the role the Facebook plays within a social network; this must be
an experiential understanding. If one understands this, then one has a sense
of how new relationships can emerge from visibility into a system of
relationships.
 
I believe that these principles can be translated to the relationship
between projects and that those with foresight should explore these
possibilities.
 
Also note that there is a direct relation between the concepts introduced in
the project matching presentation and information models that underlie the
ecosystem models.
 
 
*The Open Manufacturing<https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AiJ9wl9qbZEzdGRYY2YzRlhHemVMT3ZFd1otSHp0anc&hl=en>and
Open Government<https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsCSL3k5hoJTdE55ZFg2R19lTmRTREZ2R2RRd05lTmc&hl=en>Ecosystems
*
 
As I started to understand the power of viewing the relationship between
projects from an ecosystem perspective, I started working on developing
information models and gathering data on two particular ecosystems; open
manufacturing and open government. These represent areas where I see
significant opportunity for the development of models that will deliver
substantial social return. Since they are all ‘open infrastructure’
ecosystems, it is natural that I would work in these areas.
 
My hope is to offer these ecosystems as prototypes upon which to develop the
model that I am proposing. The goal, therefore, it to identify investment
collaborative investment opportunities, develop investment cases and
collaboratively fund these cases. In developing the information models in
parallel, the idea is to also demonstrate that investment opportunities will
emerge.
 
I am fortunate to currently be working with MakerBeam<http://makerbeam.com/>,
CubeSpawn <http://www.cubespawn.com/>and
Contraptor<http://www.contraptor.org/>in the Open
Manufacturing<https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AiJ9wl9qbZEzdGRYY2YzRlhHemVMT3ZFd1otSHp0anc&hl=en>Ecosystem,
and
DebateWise <http://debatewise.org/> in the OpenGovernment Ecosystem
 
*The Distinction Between the OpenKollab Community and the OpenKollab
Operating Group*
 
During this period, it also became clear that the question as to what the
distinction between the work that I was doing for which I am trying to
develop a financial model and get paid, and the broader community is, needed
to be clarified. This ambiguity exists because of the unique way in which I
am trying to develop a social venture myself; by operating completely in the
open. In addition to the above ecosystems, I am also developing information
models on the Social Venture
Ecosytem<https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AiJ9wl9qbZEzdGxxVHZpWVdsek8xR2ZtUFVHRFA0N0E&hl=en>,
and the Open Collaboration
Ecosystem<https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AiJ9wl9qbZEzdFQwbkNfU0ZzMU54UUFZSGxfVE9ZR0E&hl=en>
.
 
I have, to date, made all of the information, models, ideas etc. available
to the public domain while at the same time trying to figure out how to
develop processes around these ideas that will allow me to sustain myself
financially.
 
This ambiguity remains to be clarified and has led to those that I was
working with closely previously to take a step back. That they did so is
understandable, but it is not clear what this model should be.
 
 
*Reaching Out To The Funding Community*
 
In the last couple of months, after my initial foray into the Open
Manufacturing and Open Government ecosystems, I have commenced the dialogue
with the social finance community in an attempt to garner some support for
what I have been working on.
 
I must admit that this has proven to be a challenge and I think that the
challenge lies in the fact that the model that I am presenting has too many
different elements. I have had difficulty getting people to understand a
model that rests at the intersection of technology
infrastructure/information modeling, open collaboration and social finance.
 
I must confess that I am not sure what to do about this.
 
Is the issue the complexity of what I am proposing or the lack of clarity in
the way that I am proposing it?
 
Is the issue that understanding my models requires a deep understanding of
too many paradigms; open collaboration, technology infrastructure as well as
social finance?
 
 
 
*My Personal Commitment and Circumstances*
 
If what I am doing seems unfocused and overly complex, it is because the
scope of what I am taking on is large. The OpenKollab mission statement is:
‘*Connecting Projects To Solve Massive Social Problems’*. I remain committed
to this as my long term goal.
 
My position and the work that I am doing is driven by principle; that we
need to come together and work together if we are to create a better world.
In attempting to reach out to the finance community part of my objective is
to bridge traditional financial paradigms with those that are of a more
activist bent; to try to bridge boundaries and perceived differences. I have
come to realize that this is going to be a challenge, but is a challenge
that we must take on.
 
I have also come to realize that I need to focus some attention to
developing a more localized model (OK, is a completely virtual process and
can’t be my only focus). I am, therefore, now commencing discussions with
folks in Vancouver with a view to setting up a joint living/working space
that brings together projects that have synergy. The idea is to take some of
the Pooled Fund principles to the next level. Discussions are very
preliminary.
 
*Moving Forward*
 
If you believe that we are at a unique point in human history where we are
presented with unprecedented challenge as well as unprecedented opportunity
to develop and implement unique models, I encourage you to stay engaged with
OK.
 
Similarly if believe in the power of open infrastructures, the relationship
between openness and altruism, the power of communications infrastructure to
connect people, the importance of collaboration and community formation not
just as social change models but as better ways to live, I encourage you to
stay involved with OpenKollab.
 
I don’t know where this group will go, but I am not going anywhere. Even if
I am not present daily, you can rest assured that I am working towards
figuring out how to advance the cause.
 
There is no other option for me…
 
 
 
Sincerely.
 
 
 
Suresh