New Fab Charter

As of August 14, 2012 Neil Gershenfeld has proposed a new wording for discussion on the cba site. The board of the International Fab Lab Association (with some input from a few members) was discussing alternative versions, too. A table of three alternative proposals is given below for comparison and debate ... please use the Talk:New Fab Charter talk page!

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Part	Old Text (draft: August 30, 2007)	Neil Gershenfeld (15 August 2012)	Pieter van der Hijden / Lindi Mputhi / Intl. Fab Lab Association (18 August 2012)
A	The Fab Charter	The Fab Charter	The Fab Lab Charter
B			Vision: Actual developments in digital fabrication enable personal, local and small scale fabrication, combined with global collaboration and sharing of knowledge, experience and designs. This offers tremendous opportunities for improving the human condition. (see also NOTE 1 at the bottom of the page)
C	Mission: fab labs are a global network of local labs, enabling invention by providing access for individuals to tools for digital fabrication.	What is a fab lab? Fab labs are a global network of local labs, enabling invention by providing access to tools for digital fabrication What's in a fab lab? Fab labs share an evolving inventory of core capabilities to make (almost) anything, allowing people and projects to be shared	What is a fab lab? Fab labs are a global network of local labs, enabling invention by providing access to tools for digital fabrication What's in a fab lab? Fab labs share an evolving inventory of core capabilities to make (almost) anything, allowing people and projects to be shared What is its impact? Fab Labs welcome individuals, community groups, schools and businesses to empower themselves, to learn, to solve their real life problems, to create jobs, to invent and innovate and to become productive based on actual developments in digital fabrication.
D	Access: you can use the fab lab to make almost anything (that doesn't hurt anyone); you must learn to do it yourself, and you must share use of the lab with other uses and users	Who can use a fab lab? Fab labs are available as a community resource, offering open access for individuals as well as scheduled access for programs|
E	Education: training in the fab lab is based on doing projects and learning from peers; you're expected to contribute to documentation and instruction
F		What does the fab lab network provide? Operational, educational, technical, financial, and logistical assistance beyond what's available within one lab
G	Responsibility: you're responsible for:	What are a fab lab user's responsibilities?
H	safety: knowing how to work without hurting people or machines	safety: knowing how to work without hurting people or machines
I	cleaning up: leaving the lab cleaner than you found it
J		knowledge: contributing to documentation and instruction
K	operations: assisting with maintaining the lab	operations: assisting with maintaining the lab
L	Secrecy: designs and processes developed in fab labs must remain available for individual use although intellectual property can be protected however you choose	Who owns fab lab inventions? Designs and processes developed in fab labs can be protected and sold however an inventor chooses, but should remain available for individuals to use and learn from
M	Business: commercial activities can be incubated in fab labs but they must not conflict with open access, they should grow beyond rather than within the lab, and they are expected to benefit the inventors, labs, and networks that contribute to their success.	How can businesses use a fab lab? Commercial activities can be prototyped and incubated in a fab lab, but they must not conflict with other uses, they should grow beyond rather than within the lab, and they are expected to benefit the inventors, labs, and networks that contribute to their success.

(NOTE 1) Alternative statements (broadly under the headings vision/mission) have been suggested:

• To leverage the ideas, tools and processes of digital fabrication toward improving the human condition.
• To leverage the ideas, tools and processes of digital fabrication to create meaningful change in the world.
• To sustain a global revolution, leveraging digital fabrication to change the world
• To realize a global, open network of people collaborating and sharing knowledge in digital fabrication for problem solving in order to facilitate individuals in solving their challenges.
• To realize a global, open network of people collaborating and sharing knowledge in digital fabrication in order to contribute to individual's social, cultural, and economic aspirations.
• To sustain a global, open network of people sharing digital fabrication knowledge to democratize access, spark innovation, and facilitate empowerment in individuals and communities worldwide.
• To sustain an open network of people sharing digital fabrication knowledge, sparking innovation, facilitating empowerment, and catalyzing change within the global community.
• To sustain an open network of people sharing digital fabrication knowledge to spark innovation, facilitate empowerment, and catalyze change in the global community.
• To sustain an open network of people sharing digital fabrication knowledge to catalyze change by democratizing access, sparking innovation, and facilitating empowerment within the global community.