#OSE Open Source Everything – Page 114 – Public Intelligence Blog

2014/10/06

Jean Lievens: BitCoin Basics – Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), Distributed Anonymous Computing, Embedded Time-Stamped Contracts, and the Elimination of Bankers AND Lawyers?

Economics/True Cost, Governance, Innovation

Bitcoin’s blockchain could revolutionize more than just how we do business

Gordon Fletcher

The Conversation, 01 Oct 2014

EXTRACTS

Cryptocurrencies are novel as they are only possible because of the ready availability of high-speed computing and networks. They are a challenge to today’s currencies because of their decentralised nature, taking them out of national governments’ control. … What has been given less attention is the mechanism that makes the bitcoin network possible, the blockchain. . . . The use of the blockchain means that each contract is distributed across the network with time triggers agreed and written into the contract. … The Ethereum White Paper outlining the concepts and aims of the project describes how using the blockchain can be used to form decentralised autonomous organisations (DAO). … Various controversial claims around Ethereum suggest it will remove the need for lawyers, or even the need for bankers. … In a similar way open innovation could become a more powerful mechanism by using the blockchain as an arbitrator that offers attribution of original ideas in the correct chronological order. The blockchain can also be applied to education, used to verify attendance and identity for exams held at remote locations. … Ethereum is just the first to exploit the blockchain in novel and creative ways. Others are already arriving, for example IBM’s Adept project takes the blockchain in an entirely different direction, putting it at the centre of a future internet of things. Here the blockchain is used to authenticate devices so they can communicate with each other, using the blockchain to store a record of devices that have done so.

Continue reading “Jean Lievens: BitCoin Basics – Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), Distributed Anonymous Computing, Embedded Time-Stamped Contracts, and the Elimination of Bankers AND Lawyers?”

2014/10/062014/10/06

Patrick Meier: Integrating Geo-Data with Social Media Improves Situational Awareness During Disasters

Geospatial

Integrating Geo-Data with Social Media Improves Situational Awareness During Disasters

A new data-driven study on the flooding of River Elbe in 2013 (one of the most severe floods ever recorded in Germany) shows that geo-data can enhance the process of extracting relevant information from social media during disasters. The authors use “specific geographical features like hydrological data and digital elevation models to prioritize crisis-relevant twitter messages.” The results demonstrate that an “approach based on geographical relations can enhance information extraction from volunteered geographic information,” which is “valuable for both crisis response and preventive flood monitoring.” These conclusions thus support a number of earlier studies that show the added value of data integration. This analysis also confirms several other key assumptions, which are important for crisis computing and disaster response.

Continue reading “Patrick Meier: Integrating Geo-Data with Social Media Improves Situational Awareness During Disasters”

2014/10/03

Yoda: Neelie Kroes – Outgoing EU Champion of Open Source

#OSE Open Source Everything, Politics, Software

Open Spirit, we feel.

Neelie Kroes To Give A Final Interview At Disrupt Europe In London

Neelie Kroes will give one of her last ever on-stage interviews at TechCrunch Disrupt Europe in London before leaving her role as Vice-President of the European Commission.

. . . . . . .

On the Commission’s ‘Digital Agenda’ she has been at least as forthright. Early on she advocated free and Open Source Software, previously unheard of at high levels of European governance.

Kroes pushed hard for more competition and the levelling of the broadband playing field; went to war with mobile operators over roaming charges and has since gone on to fiercely defend and promote technology entrepreneurship, particularly amongst Europe’s young people, many of whom face economies where traditional industries have fewer and fewer jobs.

Read full article.

2014/10/032014/10/03

EFF: Open Access Week

Access

Knowledge Should Not Be Trapped Behind A Paywall: Get Ready For Open Access Week

Open Access Week is less than a month away! Now in its eighth year, Open Access Week is an international event that celebrates the wide-ranging benefits of enabling open access to information and research–as well as the dangerous costs of keeping knowledge locked behind publisher paywalls.

Read full article.

2014/10/03

Jean Lievens: fab labs, open innovation and smart cities

Design, Hardware, Innovation, Manufacturing, Materials

4/4 Fabbing & cities: Barcelona Fab City

This post is the fourth of 4 posts about Digital manufacturing (fabbing) environments that we have been publishing weekly on Fridays. In these posts I have shared my research on fab labs, open innovation and smart cities, mainly in Europe and in Spain.

The fourth post is the result of a research on fab labs and their relationship with smartcities. In the last two articles I have written about two recent nodes of the global fab lab network. Although there are other fablabs in Spain, I decided to give visibility to these two initiatives in León and in Sevilla. Among all fab labs in Spain those two are giving a real opportunity to make personal production and digital manufacturing accessible and comprehensible for a wide range of people. However, the most popular manufacturing laboratory in Spain is Fab Lab Barcelona (2008). It is settled in the IAAC – Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and it is part of the Fab Lab Network. I would like to share my interest in their research on how the digital production ecosystem could make our cities smarter.

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2014/10/03

Yoda: Open Source Hardware Association is Officially a Non-Profit Organization!

Hardware, Non-Governmental

Good, this is.

OSHWA is Officially a Non-Profit Organization!

Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) is thrilled to announce we have just received our official non-profit status!

OSHWA aims to be the voice of the open hardware community, ensuring that technological knowledge is accessible to everyone. We encourage the collaborative development of technology that serves education, environmental sustainability, and human welfare.

Learn more.