Careables Meet-Up: Working With Disabilities

As part of GIG's ongoing efforts to enhance visibility on the Careables Project and showcase the incredible features of the platform, Careables Monthly Meet-ups were initiated. Catch up on the Previous Careables Latest Meet-Ups here. With Spring having arrived in Berlin and Maceió heating up, it's time to gather again! 🌼 This month's meetup is all about working with disabilities. Are you collaborating with disability rights groups in your hub in a DAC country? Let us know, and we can apply for funds together. What to expect: Learn about Careables & how it all started. Share your projects & hear what others are up to so we can discuss future plans & find ways to collaborate. Check out funding opportunities. Mark your calendars Location: Zoom Meetings Can't wait to see you there! ...
Read More
Collective Keynote: Local Innovation and Global Community with Kudzai Mbaiwa, Jay Fajardo and Georgia Nicolau

Collective Keynote: Local Innovation and Global Community with Kudzai Mbaiwa, Jay Fajardo and Georgia Nicolau

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Global Innovation Gathering: Unveiling Stories of Impact and Collective Transformation In 2015, GIG transformed Kudzai's life, sparking her passion for the intersection of finance and technology. As an economic development specialist, she champions digital solutions in enterprise development and personal finance. Originating from Zimbabwe, the diverse grassroots initiatives within GIG captivated her. Upon joining, she immediately sensed a profound unfolding of the future, declaring, "The first thing I saw here was the future." This foresight translates into recognizing the boundless potential of creative minds to envision and shape a life surpassing current realities. Transitioning to the panel, Jay Fajardo, Kudzai Mbaiwa, and Georgia Nicolau share their experiences with GIG. Jay, a tech entrepreneur with 35+ years in ICT, became a GIG member in 2013. Founder of PROUDCLOUD and director of LAUNCHGARAGE, he's a pioneer in the Philippine tech scene. Jay emphasizes curating a shared vision for success, unlocking collective innovation through active participation. His 2013 experience revealed the power of grassroots innovation,...
Read More
From Makers to Ministers: Suggestions for Future Policy Dialogues with Linda Bonyo and Felipe Fonseca

From Makers to Ministers: Suggestions for Future Policy Dialogues with Linda Bonyo and Felipe Fonseca

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Linda Bonyo and Felipe Fonseca take on the trailblazing conversation of what the future of policy looks as makers in those positions of change. They touch upon the importance of fostering open and constructive policy dialogues to achieve effective governance. This would involve engaging with various stakeholders, including citizens, experts, and interest groups, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand and to craft well-rounded policies that address multiple perspectives.  The two speakers touch on the theme of commonalities. As Felipe explains, the diversity of commonalities is to be understood through the metaphor of the seed. The story begins in the context of the leftist government and civil society; some vacant positions within the government prompted individuals with activist backgrounds to step in and take up these roles. This experience led to a realization that they had become an integral part of the government machinery. They were well aware that their first responsibility was to caution communities against placing...
Read More
GIG vs The World: A Panel Talk from Andrew Lamb 

GIG vs The World: A Panel Talk from Andrew Lamb 

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
A catalyst. Often a catalyst is seen as a person or event that quickly causes change or action. The causation of a catalyst can vary, but most often or not, the result is usually positive and in the case of this talk we find that to be true. Andrew Lamb, in his talk titled "GIG vs The World," dives deep into the inner workings of becoming a catalyst and what that means for him. As we listen we find out the causation for his catalyst was burnout - typically recognized by persistent fatigue, sentiments of dissatisfaction, pessimism, and skepticism towards work-related duties'; however, such feelings toward his previous work fostered a breakthrough moment that changed the trajectory of his career and how he sees the world now.  Andrew Lamb, for 4 years, was the chief executive of engineers without borders in the UK. It started as a Student Club, and what was a charity soon evolved into something bigger. As more...
Read More
Distributed Manufacturing: A Talk by Independent Researcher Peter Troxler

Distributed Manufacturing: A Talk by Independent Researcher Peter Troxler

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
In the 10 Years of Global Innovation Gathering Conference, Peter Troxler engaged in a dynamic conversation defining distributed manufacturing in the 21st century and what the future of it might look like. To answer the question of what distributive manufacturing is, one must look at the history of open source hardware. The year 1993 marked the year of the first documented open source community in modern times through TAPR Radio Amateur - although there were other sources done before 1993 up until most of them became patented. An exemplary embodiment of what the modern open-source movement resembles is evident in the Bang & Olufsen speakers introduced in the 1970s. Bang & Olufsen made a significant impact on the audio industry by introducing wireless capabilities, revolutionizing the way speakers were used. Prior to this innovation, speakers were typically connected to audio sources through wires, limiting their mobility and placement options. Bang & Olufsen transformed this traditional setup by developing a wireless...
Read More
My Hardware, My Choice – A Panel Talk by Teresa Dillon, Linda Bonyo and Maximilian Voigt

My Hardware, My Choice – A Panel Talk by Teresa Dillon, Linda Bonyo and Maximilian Voigt

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
During this panel discussion, Teresa and Maximilian (later on followed by Linda) come together creating a dialogue around the Right to Repair - discussing what impacts the latter has on topics such as sustainability, value chain, economic impacts around the world, culture, and how technology is dealt with and treated within such context. What Do You Think Right to Repair Means and Looks Like Today? Starting the discussion, Teressa initiates the discourse by shedding light on more that just the topic of repair and delves into the realms of care, maintenance, and healing cultures - arguing that repair holds a significant position, particularly in a localized context. Some examples of data research supporting the concept of repair acts can be through trade and electrical repair services; other similar approaches are also seen through Tales of Care & Repair, an initiative used to collect stories of everyday repair including creating data where people upload costs of what/how they have repaired and their motivations....
Read More
GIG | MTM Meet the Member

GIG | MTM Meet the Member

Meet the Members is a come together where new members introduce themselves to the Network, and older members also get to introduce themselves and exchange knowledge and experiences. It is an opportunity that is open to all members in order to have the chance tell their latest updates, ask for support, laugh and exchange on so many levels - as if it was a hanging out on the banks of the Spree river in Berlin. Happening every last Wednesday of every month. Note: Links to this zoom meeting are shared timely before the event. ...
Read More
Past, Present, Future: A Welcome Address by the Executive Board of the Global Innovation Gathering

Past, Present, Future: A Welcome Address by the Executive Board of the Global Innovation Gathering

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
The History of Global Innovation Gathering  Ten years ago, Global Innovation Gathering was driven by different points of inspiration, leading it to what it is today. Physical spaces designed to facilitate local innovation emerged as a prominent and rapidly growing trend. As such, these spaces served as points of inspiration, allowing innovative minds to collaborate and work together on technological advancements. However, the vast number of worldwide individuals who remained unaware of one another and lacked the means to connect was a significant challenge. Emphasizing a "strength in numbers" mentality, the vision was to unite these creatives and diverse communities to achieve more significant goals and overall collective impact. The solution involved bringing together these innovators and diverse spaces from different parts of the world to a central location like re:publica, a festival for the digital society and the largest conference of its kind in Berlin, Europe. re:publica provided a global stage and an international audience, enabling innovators from all around the...
Read More
Building Innovation in Nepal: Impact Hub Kathmandu

Building Innovation in Nepal: Impact Hub Kathmandu

By Mugethi Gitau Comment Closed
photo courtesy of Impact Hub Kathmandu Impact Hub Kathmandu is an open, inclusive and collaborative space designed to give social innovators, entrepreneurs and change-makers somewhere to meet, work, network and learn. They provide a friendly open space that welcomes people from all across Kathmandu, and beyond! They are part of a global network of 105+ Impact Hubs in over 60 countries, working across disciplines, acting across sectors, with amazing people putting ideas into action.  Impact Hub KTM provides business support to Nepali entrepreneurs and businesses with a social purpose. They connect, inspire and support impact entrepreneurs to scale up their projects and enterprises to address some of Nepal’s challenges,  convening changemakers to convert their passion and commitments into meaningful projects. They also have FabLab Nepal, a digital fabrication laboratory to learn, play, create, mentor, invent, and innovate. They provide access to the environment, the skills, the materials, and the advanced technology to allow anyone to make (almost) anything. Since establishment, they have worked...
Read More
Gosanitize! Go Girls ICT (South Sudan)’s response to Covid 19

Gosanitize! Go Girls ICT (South Sudan)’s response to Covid 19

By Mugethi Gitau Comment Closed
South Sudan is a country that depends entirely on imports from its neighboring countries and during the pandemic, products such as hand sanitizers became more expensive as their demand was high and not affordable to the common person in the community. GoGirls inspiration to research and come up with a hand sanitizer called Gosanitize from locally sourced resources within South Sudan was because of the above challenges. Ten female local brewers were trained to make highly concentrated alcohol (Ethanol) for use in the hand sanitizer. To achieve this, GoGirls ICT Initiative team together with chemistry experts, had a peer-to-peer virtual mentorship exchange with Bibliothèque-MboaLab, Cameroon. But alas! A hurdle. To enable this project to succeed, they needed to overcome a major hurdle: religious beliefs and the extent to which women who make alcohol are viewed as contributors to the prevalence of hooliganism in the society. Not to be associated with a bad name in their society that taints their religious beliefs, some...
Read More