Introducing the GIGctionary: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigating the World of GIG

Introducing the GIGctionary: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigating the World of GIG

By Chaïma Attia Comment Closed
In GIG, we say many things; we talk about innovation, technology co-creation, and much more. Sometimes, we even invent our own words! As someone might say, we're often "GIGing it," managing to do something despite the difficulties one might face in the process (because we are a part of GIG). As we grow as a team and a network, many times people who join our community are lost with all these vocabularies that are new and unfamiliar to them. What are “open-source technologies”? What do we mean by “digital innovation” or “active citizenship”? All these questions have led to an idea being born: the creation of our very own, personalized dictionary called “GIGctionary”. What better way for someone to understand our network and what we do than by having a handbook they can refer to when needed?! So, we invite you all to co-create this GIGctionary together because who is more familiar with what GIG does than its own members?! Below, you will...
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Exploring identity and contesting racism through games: a co-design lab in Brazil

Exploring identity and contesting racism through games: a co-design lab in Brazil

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Racism is a pervasive and complex problem, affecting individuals and societies differently. How can we address this issue creatively and engagingly? How can we use games for empowerment, awareness, and education? These questions motivated a co-design lab in Brazil in a partnership between GIG and the University of Bristol and its collaborators. The co-design lab is part of the project Contesting Algorithmic Racism in Brazil, funded by the AHRC Impact Acceleration Fund. The project explores the cultural responses to racism embedded in data and digital technologies, such as algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The project also seeks to create games and other interactive online resources that challenge and address algorithmic bias in Brazil. Date: 2008 - 2012.Location: Piscinao de Ramos, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Description: Black man uses sunblock cream on his arms over a chess board in front of a glass with beer at Ramos Public Swimming Pool. Credit: Julio Bittencourt The co-design lab consists of online workshops with...
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Filling the gaps in Iraq

Filling the gaps in Iraq

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
We sat down to talk with Nawres Arif this past Thursday to discuss his maker program in Iraq. Nawres is a trained pharmacist but considers himself to be more than that. He is also an artist, designer, and robot maker. In around 2003, Nawres became a part of the global maker movement. His passion for making things and his hope to share his passion with others led him to found ScienceCamp in 2013. ScienceCamp became the first-ever maker space in Iraq. Nawres says that among many other goals, this maker space's main aim is to develop ways to “use science to make life better.”  Listen to the interview: Nawres told us that the traditional education model in Iraq does not allow students to explore their passions. Learning tends to be more theoretical than hands-on, “education needs to be more practical, interactive, and fun.” He found a solution to this problem in the maker movement. He tells us that the maker movement mixes...
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Noni Hub: Equipping Youths to Prototype for Local Needs

Noni Hub: Equipping Youths to Prototype for Local Needs

By Melanie Chan Comment Closed
Equipping young people with technological and entrepreneurial skills to solve local community problems is the mandate of one particular makerspace in the Northern region of Ghana.  Noni Hub, located in Wa, is a budding innovation that aims to foster innovation, creativity, and making scalable technological solutions. Mustapha Dauda, an African Maker and Engineer in electronics and robotics, leads the maker space's activities. Welcoming individuals enthusiastic about bringing their ideas to life, the activities of the makerspace include a three-week training program encompassing sessions on design, ideation, prototyping, and constructing. Participants are taught the design thinking process to develop functional solutions and trained on relevant maker techniques such as 3D modelling and woodwork to prototype their solutions. Check the Interview with Mustapha Dauda below: For Mustapha, seeing people embrace the maker movement and bring new ideas is exciting. Recounting an experience where one participant in the program wanted to set up a bee farm but could not afford to buy a beehive, he...
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FabLab Nepal: Empowering Communities Through Technological Access

FabLab Nepal: Empowering Communities Through Technological Access

By Melanie Chan Comment Closed
Technology has become an integral part of our lives in today's fast-paced world. Technology has transformed how we live and work, from smartphones to smart homes. However, not everyone has access to the latest technology or the skills to use it effectively. This is where organizations like FabLab Nepal come in. FabLab Nepal is a community-based digital fabrication laboratory that provides access to the latest technologies, such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC milling, to people from all walks of life. Their mission is to empower communities through technology by providing access to tools and resources to help them bring their ideas to life. In the following interview with Pradita Pradhan, the co-founder of FabLab Nepal, she shared her thoughts on the importance of technology access and critical technological education in today's world and how FabLab Nepal is helping communities in Nepal. "We believe that technology is a great equalizer, and everyone should have access to it," said Pradita. "We aim to...
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Revolutionizing STEM Education in the Philippines

Revolutionizing STEM Education in the Philippines

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Imagine a welcoming and imaginative space, with the floor resembling grass and trees serving as tables. It's a place where kids can collaborate to design, create and think. The students use circuits, 3-D printers, and crafts to create creative projects. Based in the Philippines, that is precisely what SparkleLab presents. Founded by Rosanna Lopez, SparkleLab began as a small clubhouse for kids. Having evolved into after-school and summer camps over the years, one of its flagship programs, Game Makers, teaches game design, with kids creating their games using Python. The whole learning experience is imbued with fun, creativity, and storytelling. Before classes begin, a letter is sent to the kids warning them of an evil pirate bunny trying to outlaw fun. The kids must act like a rebel army against the evil bunny to restore fun. Other programs include Stitches and Circuits, which focuses on getting girls to code, and Toy Mill, which teaches design thinking and critical making.  Set within the...
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Data_labe: A Hub for Data and Narratives from the Favela

Data_labe: A Hub for Data and Narratives from the Favela

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Data_labe is a data and narratives laboratory based in the Maré favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is also a member of the Global Innovation Gathering (GIG), a network of innovation hubs, makerspaces, hackerspaces and other grassroots initiatives worldwide. In this blog post, we will showcase their work and connection to GIG and invite you to listen to an audio interview with Gilberto Vieira, one of the co-founders of data_labe. You can listen to the interview here: Data_labe was born in 2016 as a project within the Observatório de Favelas, a social organisation promoting favelas' human rights and social justice. In 2018, it became an autonomous non-profit association. Its mission is to promote the democratisation of knowledge through data generation, analysis and dissemination, focusing on race, gender and territory. Its team comprises young people from low-income regions who produce new narratives through data. At the core of their projects is the question of the images constructed about the city and its...
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Building an Inclusive Future: The Africa Makerspace Network

Building an Inclusive Future: The Africa Makerspace Network

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
In recent years, makerspaces have emerged as a powerful force for innovation and community building in cities worldwide. These shared workspaces provide access to tools, technology, and resources often out of reach for individuals and small organizations. They also serve as a hub for collaboration, experimentation, and skill-sharing. But while the benefits of makerspaces are clear, they are not equally accessible to everyone. In many parts of the world, makerspaces are concentrated in urban areas and are often dominated by privileged groups. This creates a significant barrier for individuals and communities who need more resources or connections to access these spaces. The Africa Makerspace Network (AMN) is working to change this. AMN is a network of makerspaces and innovation hubs across Africa committed to creating inclusive spaces for innovation, learning, and entrepreneurship. Their mission is to build a network of African makerspaces that are accessible and sustainable and connect them with the global maker movement. AMN was founded in 2019 by a...
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Africa Lawyers Hub: Empowering African Lawyers to Drive Positive Change

Africa Lawyers Hub: Empowering African Lawyers to Drive Positive Change

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Africa Lawyers Hub is a non-profit organization that aims to empower African lawyers to drive positive change in their communities. The organization was founded in 2020 to connect lawyers across Africa and provide them with the resources and support they need to make a meaningful impact in their countries. One of the critical ways Africa Lawyers Hub achieves this goal is through its mentorship program. The program matches experienced lawyers with young professionals just starting their careers. The mentors provide guidance and support to the mentees, helping them to navigate the legal profession and to develop the skills they need to be successful. In addition to the mentorship program, Africa Lawyers Hub provides various other resources to its members. These include access to legal training, continuing education opportunities, and a network of legal professionals who can provide support and advice. The organization also hosts events and workshops to bring its members together and to provide them with opportunities to learn from one...
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Celebrating three years of CoAct: Ending Cycles

Celebrating three years of CoAct: Ending Cycles

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
During the last 36 months, the Global Innovation Gathering helped CoAct project deliver Citizen Social Science concepts and practices to more than 1,6 million people, using a wide range of communication strategies and tools, combined with intense resilience and creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic.  CoAct (Co-designing Citizen Social Science for Collective Action) proposes a radically new approach to facing global social issues by engaging vulnerable citizens as co-researchers. The strategy represents a new account of Citizen Social Science, understood here as participatory research co-designed and directly driven by citizen groups sharing a social concern. CoAct's research approach, where citizen groups and their problems are at the core of the research questions, requires translating those attributes for its communicative and dissemination activities. Furthermore, CoAct's shared values - Inclusiveness, Horizontality, Equity, Trust and Respect, Open Science, Co-ownership, Empowerment, and Reflexivity - underlined the direction and structure of CoAct's communication, dissemination and exploitation Work Package, led by the Global Innovation Gathering inside a consortium partnership. The first year...
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