Open Hardware Camp December 4, 2009

This is an event to bring key projects, their participants and stakeholders together in the emerging field of Open Hardware development, organized by 40Fires in partnership with Nesta.
The 40Fires Foundation is a forum to develop energy-efficient cars, and other sustainable products, using an open source approach.
The event aims to inform participants about Open Hardware, to be a space to discuss and learn and to explore practical solutions and potential collaborations to help Open Hardware work better, for a better world.

Aims:

Questions the event will address are:

- what are successful strategies to form communities of engineers and tinkerers to collaboratively develop and design hardware;

- how can we foster the creation of an Open Source like ecology where altruistic, pragmatic and economic incentives coalesce in the production of complex physical objects -

- in Open Source the GPL (General Pubic License) has played a key role in binding communities together through ensuring that enhancements are kept 'open'. How can a GPL equivalent work for hardware and what are the right legal strategies to ensure sustainability of collaboration.
Structure:

The structure of the event resembles in part a Bar Camp where participants self-organize into groups according to their common interests. At the same time we have invited a few OS hardware projects to present what they do and how.

If you want to suggest a topic for one of the open sessions send an email to info at openbusiness.cc

There will also be a few tinkerers and makers present who will have chips, sensors, robots and other pieces of electric joinery to build upon.