In my upcoming book, I talk about Open Artifacts projects. It’s an idea I had a long time ago based on Open Source projects, but instead of software, we would create projects for physical objects like solar ovens, or we might create a project for important social programs, like how to launch a safe house for battered women and men. It could extend to anything that is an artifact, including things we may not think of artifacts, like expert systems in this age of artificial intelligence.
There are now a lot of open movements for things other than software. There’s an Open Science movement where the push is to share scientific research for free rather than publishing in expensive journals. There’s an Open Education movement where textbooks are being produced and distributed for free to schools around the world. There are others, including Open Data, and even Open Source Appropriate Technology, but I still think it could be taken farther.
For me, open projects are an opportunity for people to contribute to something meaningful using their best skills and talents. Filling boxes with food for people who are hungry is an awesome way to spend some of your time volunteering, but what if you had the skills to help build an inexpensive, automated system that filled those boxes while volunteers did more meaningful tasks. If such a system were an open artifacts project, people from all over the world could contribute to its design and once working, it could be built over and over and used by all kinds of charities that need it.
Open projects could really help harness the talents and energy of many more people toward creating a world that works for all humanity.
“Open Artifacts” is just a name that can act as an umbrella for any open project that can move humanity toward a better future. I’m working on a definition of what would qualify as an open artifact, but it’s difficult to draw clear lines in the sand. I’m not thrilled by the idea of open artifacts weapons, but I also recognize that almost any artifact can be weaponized. What might be easier to define is what qualifies as “open.” There are projects like some textbooks that are freely available, but don’t have a clear mechanism for contributing to the project. I’m not sure those would qualify.
I’m also working on assembling an online database of open artifacts projects. Are there projects that you know about that I should be aware of? If so, please drop me a line.
