The new economy of innovation
How thinking small got big
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino
CEO & Co-Founder of Tinker.it!
LIFT Marseille Vendredi 19 Juillet 2009

Tinker.it!
Design studio in London & Milan
Physical computing
Interactive products & installations
www.tinker.it

Massimo Banzi
CTO of Tinker.it!
Co-Founder of
the Arduino platform
www.arduino.cc

Results: 1,520,000 for Arduino (0.07 seconds)

Arduino
Cheap & open-source platform
to learn electronics
Sold around the world (60k units)
Developed in 2005 in Italy
www.arduino.cc

Day 1
Breadboard, components, mess
Project by Andy Huntington

Day 50
Fit for purpose
Project by Shawn Bonkowski & Mike Albers

Track your cat with RFID
CaTaLog http://www.nermal.org/

Track if your plants need watering
CaTaLog http://www.nermal.org/

Tell the world your baby is kicking
Kickbee

Check how much energy you use
Ambient Orb & Current Cost meter hack, Nick O’Leary

The Arduino ecology
Other platforms (x)uino
Education
Publications

A new conversation...
Public engagement
New applications of technology
New ways of doing r&d
New scales of innovation

The situation
Acme Corporation®

We should Let me ask Let’s have
make the design a meeting
Ax1
>> department
>>
Ok send the Hmm, that’s Let’s have
specs to the not really what a meeting
engineering
>> we asked for
>> & establish
department. requirements
Let’s email Let’s get this That just cost
them a >> prototyped with >> €10K
document the CNC machine

The situation
John Doe // Michel Dupont

I want I spend
Let me Google
to make >> that for you >> some €
Ax1
I make a I post it on I link to
prototype >> my blog >> it on Twitter
Make blog 10 people
links to it >> want to buy it >> Now what?
http://makezine.com/

New manufacturing models?
Less than 1K units is hard
Conversations are difficult
From prototype to production-ready

New production models?
FabLabs
Techshop
RepRap
Makerbot
Former industrial nations?

New product challenges?
Designer / Engineer relations
New product design visions
New product design professionals

New financial models?
We’re in a recession
Beyond banks, angels & VC?
Smaller yet global audiences

Sustainability challenges
Small production is still production.
Electronics in everything!
Responsible design is hard

New models of ownership
Open source
Troubleshooting & support
History & Legacy

New market expectations
Managing demand and supply
Beyond the geek community
New language

The point
Rethinking how innovation happens
Supporting small businesses
Shared innovation models
Funding for small projects
Reboot local production

Merci à LIFT!
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino
alex@tinker.it
twitter.com/tinker_it
www.tinker.it
www.tinker.it/now
LIFT Marseille 2009