Open source appropriate technology (OSAT) refers to technologies that provide for sustainable development while being designed in the same fashion as free and open-source software. Facilitated by advances in information technology software and hardware, new ways to disseminate information such as wikis and Internet-enabled mobile phones, the global development of OSAT has emerged as a reality. This paper shows the sharing of design processes, appropriate tools, and technical information is en...
Despite enormous efforts over the course of several decades, sustainable development on the African continent remains incompletely realized. Top-down methodologies have largely failed and many sustainable development organizations now support small-scale direct approaches, which provide the tools and knowledge necessary for people to help themselves. The new approach to sustainable development of open source appropriate technology (OSAT) builds on these successes. OSAT is a development method...
The appropriate technology (AT) movement is being driven by inventors and innovators who are interested in designing technologies that are culturally, environmentally, and economically appropriate, and feasible to construct and use for people anywhere in the world. This paper examines how open sharing of designs, specifications, and technical information can enhance effectiveness, widespread use, and innovation of AT. This commons-based open design method has been highly successful for softwa...
Traditional engineering service learning (SL) projects can be classified as: 1) collaborations with a community group or non-profit organization to provide specific engineering around a community need, or 2) an internship-like experience with industry to address work requested by a client. The limitation of both traditional SL approaches is that they do not prepare students to implement unprescribed projects. In contrast, here students chose both the project and the partner for a self-directe...
Given the urgency of development problems world-wide, as well as the opportunities of open source appropriate technology (OSAT) to help expedite sustainable development goals, a better understanding of the barriers limiting the scaling of OSAT is needed. In this study, key organizations and researchers working in the field of appropriate technology (AT) were interviewed to identify barriers to OSAT. The data was analyzed via pattern coding and content analysis. Results reveal that among the m...
Much of the widespread poverty, environmental desecration, and waste of human life seen around the globe could be prevented by known (to humanity as a whole) technologies, many of which are simply not available to those that need it. This lack of access to critical information for sustainable development is directly responsible for a morally and ethically unacceptable level of human suffering and death. A solution to this general problem is the concept of open source appropriate technology or...
Although theoretically the patent system is meant to bolster innovation, the current United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is cumbersome and involves a significant time investment to locate inactive patents less than 20 years old. This article reports on the development of an open source database to find these public domain ideas. First, a search strategy is explained. Then the operation and use of free and open source software are detailed to meet the needs of open hardware innov...
Does a national research-focused organization need a technically competent leader? This study provides preliminary answers to that question using a natural experiment underway at the Department of Energy (DOE): a leader with significant high-level management experience superior to that of his predecessors, but no relevant technical experience was appointed to run the vast scientific research operation. The following hypothesis is proposed: A major risk of allowing technically-unqualified lead...
Ab overview of the Uber business model
ABSTRACT This article presents a framework for an information retrieval and indexing management system for a digital transcript system which will help overcome the undesirable problem associated with student’s grades, slow and strenuous accessibility of student report and records and poor information management within the school. The objective of this research is to propose and implement an algorithm that would optimize data and preserve them in an eco-friendly manner. A review was observed...