Initiators for new fab labs have 1001 questions. Existing fab labs also struggle with new management issues that come their way. At the request of the International Fab Foundation, a number of Fab Lab activists developed a workshop concept and put this concept into practice at various international fab lab conferences: the Fab Lab Life Cycle.
The life cycle of a Fab Lab goes through a number of phases:
- Conception – How to start, paperwork, funding, and all issues until the lab goes live
- Early childhood – Teething problems, challenges during the first year
- Coming to age – Management issues, professional PR and advocacy, service development
- Fostering new businesses – Supporting the creation of new products, processes & organizations
- Surviving – Funding, business model, good practices, community building
Pieter van der Hijden and Beno Juarez shaped the concept and facilitated the sessions with the help of Enrico Bassi, Klaas Hernamdt, Massimo Menichinelli, Dirk van Vreeswijk and Anna Waldman-Brown. They have recorded the results in the report “The Fab Lab Life Cycle” which can be downloaded for free via http://bit.ly/fablablifecycle.
Sofos Consultancy 