As you probably already know, FKI is one of the partners of the EU H2020 research project called “DiDIY (Digital DIY)”. This important work, which among other things provided us with some of the bases for other current initiatives like Comunificadora, FemProComuns and The Things Network, is now coming to an end. Therefore, we’d love to share the results with you all at the DiDIY Final Conference, on June 22nd in Milan, Italy. Details and link to free registrations are below. Please come, and share the invitation with everybody interested in Open Hardware, Free Knowledge and all their applications!

Digital Makers – Making a Difference?

On 22 June 2017 in Milano, Italy, the Digital Do It Yourself (DiDIY) H2020 European research project will hold its Final Conference: we invite all interested people to attend the event. To read the detailed program, please click here. For free, but mandatory registration, please click here instead. Should you have any problem with the registration form, please let us know!

The phenomenon

The widespread availability of accessible and affordable digital tools, such as 3D printers and Arduino electronic boards, has triggered a new interest in the social value of the individual and collective Do It Yourself, a phenomenon that we call “Digital Do It Yourself” (DiDIY).

By developing the DiDIY mindset, people build their capacity to create and collaborate. As more people engage in DiDIY activities, the distinction between the producers of technological systems and their users becomes blurred. DiDIY may then support active digital citizenship.

As enthusiasts gather in makerspaces, Fab Labs, festivals, and online, DiDIY is creating new social opportunities, but also new threats. In areas from healthcare to the job market, from education to the circular economy, we see substantial transformations, and new scenarios have emerged in areas such as intellectual property, consumers’ rights, and crime.

Decision makers within both public and private organisations would benefit from a better understanding of this fast evolving phenomenon, to increase participation and enable personal, social, and economic development of communities.

The project

Over the last two years the DiDIY research project, financed by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 programme, has been working on this complex phenomenon. Seven research institutions from Italy, Greece, U.K. and Netherlands have been working together to:

• build insights into the evolution of DiDIY in work, education, creative society, and other areas;
• develop guidelines to empower effective policies on DiDIY.

The event

The research consortium will present and discuss the main results of its activity in the Project Final Conference. Creative practitioners and decision makers are invited to attend the event: it will be a great opportunity to discuss the role and the impact of DiDIY on programs for developing digital competences, digital agendas, and best practices in education, industry, and public administration.

The event will be held on 22 June 2017 in Milano, Italy, hosted by Regione Lombardia at Palazzo Pirelli (Via F. Filzi 22). The preliminary, non definitive agenda is as follows:

• 09:30 – 10:00: Registration
• 10:00 – 10:10: Welcome (L. Del Gobbo – Regione Lombardia, Minister University, Research and Open Innovation)
• 10:10 – 10:20: Introduction to the Conference (L. Mari – DiDIY Project Coordinator – LIUC)
• 10:20 – 10:40: Keynote: Overview of the DiDIY phenomenon (Indy Johar, co-founder of Project00.cc Research Lab and Dark Matter Labs, Senior Innovation Associate with the Young Foundation and Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield)
• 10:40 – 12:00: Presentation of the main results of the DiDIY Project by:
  • Aurelio Ravarini – LIUC
  • Bruce Edmonds – MMU
  • David Gauntlett – UoW
  • Chiara Barattieri di San Pietro – Ab.Acus
  • Marita Canina – POLIMI
  • Wouter Tebbens – FKI
  • Vincent C. Müller – ACT
• 12:00 – 13:00: Round table: a conversation with policy-makers on DiDIY
  • Coordinator: Luca Orlando, Journalist of Il Sole 24 Ore
  • Licia Cianfriglia  Vice-President  ANP (National School Principals Association)
  • Roberta Cocco, Councillor for Digital Transformation and Citizens Services at Municipality of Milan
  • Silvia Pagani, General Secretary of Confindustria Lombardia
  • Arlo Canella, lawyer, founder associate of Canella Camaiora firm
• 13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break
• 14:00 – 15:30: Parallel Workshops (for full abstracts, plase see below) on:
  • DiDiY and learning: Building a more creative society: Digital DIY, creativity and learning
    • coordinated by Chiara Barattieri di San Pietro – Ab.Acus and David Gauntlett – UoW
  • Makers at Work: Digital DIY mindset, open business models and collaborative workers
    • coordinated by Wouter Tebbens – FKI and Aurelio Ravarini – LIUC
• 15:30 – 16:00: Coffee break
• 16:00 – 16:45: Closing discussion

Workshops descriptions

DiDIY and learning: Building a more creative society: Digital DIY, creativity and learning

In this workshop we will creatively discuss the potential of digital DIY to transform creativity in education, learning and everyday life.
Participants will build their ideas with simple craft materials in focused discussions (round-tables) on topics such as ‘DiDIY and new pedagogical approaches’, ‘Learning outside the classroom’, and  ‘Cultural and gender issues in digital DIY access and education’, to exchange aspirations, examples of best-practices, and future directions.

Makers at Work: Digital DIY mindset, open business models and collaborative workers

In this interactive workshop we will explore – with the help of participants – how the Digital DIY phenomenon is applied in business models of different kinds and what are the enablers and the constraints influencing the effect that DiDIY is having on work practices. We will discuss business models that combine the DiDIY mindset with an economically viable combination of knowledge sharing, revenue model, mode of production and governance model. Participants will work in small groups to study cases of their preference along these lines and the conclusions will be shared with the whole group.

Collaboration and patronages

The Final Conference of the DiDIY Project will take place under the patronage of:

	In partnership with / In collaborazione con Regione Lombardia
	Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di Rappresentanza Regionale della Commissione Europea a Milano
	Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di Comune di Milano
	Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di Confindustria Lombardia
	Under the patronage of / Con il Patrocinio di AUSED – Associazione Utilizzatori Sistemi E tecnologie Dell’informazione