Dadamac is an ongoing exploration, and Dadamac.net is part of that exploration, so things are always moving and changing. As a result some things are moving out of this space, and some new things are moving in.
First stage of Dadamac.net
I started this online space - Dadamac.net - with Nikki Fishman. The main idea behind it was to make John Dada's work more visible. I won't discuss now the reasons why, or what worked and didn't work, and what we discovered in the process - but maybe I'll cover some of that in future.
What we have here now is a great record of John's work, built up week by week. It's accessible in various ways - but there is so much here that newcomers might need some help in finding their way around.. We intend to continue adding to that story, through Nikki's blog, but we are moving on in various ways.
Dadamac Limited
We have created a separate site, Dadamac Limited, to pull together some of Dadamac's stories of collaboration in an easy-to-access way. It tells how we have:
- Provided innovative and appropriate ICT training to teachers in rural Africa (Teachers Talking).
- Helped set up a scheme for medical professionals to get affordable online courses (Peoples-Uni.org).
- Helped with an impact investment that enabled farmers to get use of a tractor - the money donated will be re-used once the tractor has paid for itself (FastTractor).
- Set up a technology transfer experiment that hit the ground running - and could serve as an interesting bench mark regarding value-for-money initiatives (Eco-dome).
- Launched a social business in response to the changing world of work and more people seeking new opportunities - this is in the UK (Collage-network).
This site is called Dadamac Limited, although the projects featured were done freely. We have a registed company, so that if anyone from outside of Dadamac wants us to do similar projects for them we have the financial and legal structures to do so.
Collage network
Collage network emerged from the work Nikki and I had been doing together on Dadamac.net. Behind the scenes, regarding initial structures, systems and relationships. it is obvious where Collage-network began. However given the fact that its focus is UK, not Africa it needed a separate identity - and a separate Collage-network website
Dadmac.net now
Now that we have other "tidy entrance points" for newcomers to our work it frees up the Dadamac.net online space tor "messier" approaches. It can have more ongoing work, and be less structured. I'll start to drop in more information about things that I'm doing - and other people are doign too - as well as telling what John is doing. I'll play around with the space and see what develops
Practicalities
I've been very fortunate in being able to do things in Dadamac that interest me. I've had that freedom because the work I've done in Dadamac has been on a Dadamac Open Knowledge basis. I had no paymaster (my "day jobs' have been eslewhere) so I haven't been restricted by any expectations of funders, or inappropriate tick-lists agreed before things got underway. When I have needed help that I couldn't get on an Open Knoweldge basis I have paid for it from my own pocket.
I'm not alone in subdising the work that I do. Other people who I know, who do innovative things elsewhere, also have to pay for it from their own pockets. In addition, people who I have paid to help me have also subsidised Dadamac by giving me far more help than ever shows up on their invoices.
Hidden value
Some people suggest that my role is that of volunteer or philanthropist, but they are mistaken. They have not seen the invisible exchanges in Dadamac. They don't understand how it is about far more than time or money. Dadamac is about invisible, unquantifiable things which are actually of great value. I recognise, and delight in, its wealth regarding flows of information, knowledge creation, and the relationships between people. I genuinely believe that in our Internet-based world we can all become richer by sharing what we know and learning from each other. Dadamac is part of my personal learning journey in this 21st century, connected, glocal world. Liam Barrington-Bush @hackofalltrades says I'm an "Internet education and collaboration explorer". I think his description is closest to the truth.