MoFab: new BMBF research project on open hardware - invitation to the kick-off event

With our new BMBF-funded research project "MoFab", we want to investigate the potential of hardware developed by civil society and, for the first time, establish an Open Hardware Fund.

The main questions to be pursued are how to promote open source in small towns and rural areas and how open technologies can be used to solve local problems. How do we counter rising water scarcity? How can mobility be improved? What do we do with retiring industries?

Rethinking repair culture with the help of open source hardware

Under the theme of repair culture, the Chair of Information Systems, esp. Processes and Systems, cooperates with the project alliance of Netzwerk Offener Werkstätten Brandenburg, AWO Brandenburg Süd, Wissenschaftsladen Potsdam and the Open Knowledge Foundation, and calls on people to participate in the development of resilient solutions and to share knowledge.

[Image: Jakub Purej]

Open source hardware enables reuse and repair: existing technology can be developed collectively. Possible faulty designs or damage can be repaired through open documentation. Free licenses and modular designs ensure the possibility of decentralized modification. This makes integration into local circuits possible, because the technology can thus be easily adapted to needs and integrated into infrastructures. Open Hardware is therefore an important building block for a sustainable society that does not rely on overproduction, but on collective further development and the long-term preservation of technology. This makes technology more transparent and makes it easier to participate in it.

Kick-off event of the project in Cottbus on 24th and 25th of October

We would like to invite you to the MoFab project launch event on October 24 and 25, 2021 at the Altmarkt in Cottbus, where the following program will be awaiting you:

October 24: 12 noon to 7 p.m.

• Exhibition of technologies from civil society for civil society, with exhibitors from Careables
• Repair Café: Behind the facade of my smartphone
• Tour: Workshops of the future
  

October 25: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• 10:00 - Brief presentation of the MoFab project (Bonny Brandenburger).
• 10:15 - WI+R: Innovation through maintenance, repair and overhaul (Prof. Hipp)
• 10:30 - Middle technology(s) in Lusatia: a vision (Norbert Rost)
• 11:00 - Break
• 11:10 - Panel: On the relevance of technical participation, discussing:
  Prof. Norbert Gronau - University of Potsdam
  Dr. Henriette Litta - Open Knowledge Foundation Germany
  Wolfgang Luplow - AWO Brandenburg South
  Mario Parade - Wissenschaftsladen Potsdam
• 12:00 Get together
• End: 4 p.m.

The Fabmobil is already waiting for finally being used again [Image: Jakub Purej]

You are already interested, have questions or want to stay up to date? Then feel free to contact us by mail mofab@digitale-reparaturfabrik.com or sign up for the Open-Hardware-Mailinglist.