Building the DMS

The Problem

Conservation has been too focused on cataloguing the problem, and has provided mostly linear solutions to exponential challenges. We have been technophobic, backward looking, and too siloed. Scientists are falling behind the extinction curve and are unable to manage the rapid pace of ecological change alone. We needs to scale up to address the current challenges, which are exponential in nature. Regulation, ecosystem and resource management, and preserves are all part of the solution, but they are not enough. CXL’s mission is to harness technologies, open innovation, and entrepreneurship to dramatically improve the efficacy, cost, speed, scale and sustainability of conservation efforts to end human induced extinction. We hope to use the power of markets, open innovation, distributed computing and new kinds of people - if we are to succeed in this. And we certainly cannot do it alone. To bring everyone together, we are building this website, the Digital Makerspace.

Our Proposal

Our Tribe needs to grow, and it needs a new place to do so. This website is being built to help people who have ideas for solving conservation problems - to turn those concepts into solutions, and those solutions into self-sustaining products or even companies. To guide and work on these projects, this Digital Makerspace is being built to support conservationists but importantly also to bring together innovators, solvers, makers, and other non-traditional conservation partners (technologists, engineers, etc). We will be focused on connecting these people according to interest, capability and capacity, and providing them the place and tools to facilitate and coordinate their work. The platform will also provide a place for CXL’s staff to help grow project ideas into self-sustaining companies and its instigators into able business leaders. A conservation technology accelerator program is also being supported by the platform.

We Assume that...

Conservationists need access to skill sets not commonly available to them

Well-organized challenges act as a lighting rod for activity and ideation

Non-conservationists have skills to offer conservation projects, but don’t know where or how to apply them

We can provide a project management model that can cover for-profit projects, non-profit projects, open innovation models and closed-IP approaches

To bring the tribe and projects to scale, we must rely on the tribe itself to self-organize, to vet new members or project ideas, and to guide them along the design and development process

We can improve the willingness to collaborate with strangers by combining a person’s professional credentials with their on-site reputation

Understanding the end user of the solution, the context in which it will be used, and testing for financial sustainability of every project will lead to improved outcomes and chances to scale

Busy professionals will lend their expertise and time to conservation technology projects, pro-bono, even though those same projects may eventually turn a profit and build equity.

Constraints to Overcome

People with widely disparate fields with professional language and cultural barriers will be asked to collaborate, mostly pro-bono, on conservation technology projects. They'll need to work together remotely, asynchronously. Breaking down these barriers will be necessary to lead to trust, innovation, and effective work towards common goals. We will then need to test solutions *and* their business potential to lead to scalable solutions.

Current Work

We are working to design and develop a working Beta, and to incorporate feedback from Earth Optimism / Make for the Earth hack event. We are also onboarding projects and people for first digital / incubator cohort. Open platform up to first cohort of users - 300-500 members. Build Reputation System Build Discussion Detail and Question/Answer Detail Build Project and Project Profile Management Tools Integrate with common collaboration systems

Current Needs

Front-end developer .NET / C# developer Storytellers (video, infographics, articles) Corporate Sponsorships Good Beta Tester feedback Many, many users