2004.05.20 A proposal - in the Public Domain - by Andrius Kulikauskas of Minciu Sodas and Vykintas Augustaitis of Šakių bendruomenės centras.
"Atviro darbo vajus - ne vien Internete" (The Campaign for Working Openly not only through the Internet) will encourage independent thinkers, especially those with marginal Internet access, to participate in the global Internet society. All will be invited to pursue their endeavors at "Atviro darbo laukus" (Public Domain Zones) where the content is Public Domain except as it clearly notes otherwise. This will focus attention on those innovators who choose to work openly so as to inspire and integrate each other, foster a shared framework, and help each other find work for pay.
The "Minčių sodas" laboratory will organize and moderate Public Domain Zones both online and offline. Online organizers will help Lithuanian discussion groups, chat rooms, bulletin boards, wikis, blogs and websites declare themselves as Public Domain Zones. Such a zone will also be established within the newspaper "Literatūra ir menas" to reach out to those beyond the Internet, especially in the countryside. Each month, a public meeting will be held in a town, village or homestead to find more independent thinkers. Magazines, radio programs and television shows will be enlisted to help ideas flow freely across a variety of channels, and help innovators serve Lithuania's enterprises. An investigator will explore which channel combinations are most effective.
"Šakių bendruomenės centras" will serve as a center for circulating the ideas. All will be encouraged to email or simply mail their thoughts in the Public Domain for transcription, publication and distribution through the Web. Online organizers will select and translate thoughts for presentation in English, Russian, Arabic and other languages, and translate responses back into Lithuanian.
The "Minčių Sodas"' web navigation system "Working Openly WOW" will provide context for web pages about independent thinkers throughout Lithuania. This system will also be developed further to help OneVillage.Biz respond to the HIV/AIDS challenge in African villages, and help the ERDE consortium serve European villages. These partners will work to integrate Lithuanian innovators into the global economy.
Independent thinkers from Lithuania, including those who live in the towns and countryside and have marginal Internet access, will participate effectively in the global Internet society.
The Lithuanian countryside is depressed. Change needs to come from people who
think differently. However, such people are discouraged and isolated. They need
encouragement from a broader network of peers. They can then make evident the
advantages of the countryside, where just a few people, thinking differently,
can have a dramatic effect on their surroundings.
The Internet is becoming more available, but there is a lack of understanding of
why and how to participate in the global society. Generally, people do not
realize that wealth is relationships, and that knowledge out of context is
worthless. Copyright laws protect all content, and presume that authors do not
want to share anything except on a case-by-case basis. This makes it illegal,
immoral or impractical for organizers to freely circulate content so as to
openly foster relationships.
Independent thinkers in the countryside enjoy cultural radio and television
programs, and also cultural newspapers, when they can get them. These channels,
and also visits by other thinkers, are vital for the flow of ideas. Computers
are in only 7% of households in the countryside, compared with 19% in the towns,
and 33% in the five major cities. The Internet is used in only 1% of homes in
the countryside, compared with 6% in the towns, and 16% in the cities. This
exemplifies the social rift in Lithuania, where 1,150,000 people live in the
countryside, 1,000,000 in the towns, and 1,300,000 people live in the cities.
Our target group is independent thinkers with marginal Internet access,
especially in the countryside and towns of Lithuania. Independent thinkers are
people who not only think, but regularly return to their thoughts and develop
them further. In this sense, they are self-directed, self-educated, and willing
to work for free on projects they care about. They are slow to agree with
others, and so everywhere they find themselves in the periphery. They are united
by a shared value of "caring about thinking".
Let us consider the percentage of adults who are active in society to be the
percentage who do some form of volunteer work (perhaps 5% in Lithuania's
countryside, 10% in towns, and 20% in the cities). The experience of "Minčių
sodas" is that roughly one-third of such adults recognize the value of
developing one's own ideas and projects, are comfortable around independent
thinkers, and happy to grow as one of them. And of these, given the opportunity,
one-tenth actively participate in a network of independent thinkers.
We may crudely estimate that, in Lithuania, the number of people who might
identify with independent thinkers is 14,000 in the countryside, 25,000 in the
towns, and 65,000 in the cities. Our target group is therefore about 35,000
people. Furthermore, the number of people who might openly participate as
independent thinkers is 1,400 in the countryside, 2,500 in the towns, and 6,500
in the cities.
In our Campaign for Working Openly, we expect to involve 300 participants who
contribute actively in Public Domain Zones, have 4,000 direct beneficiaries who
participate in Public Domain Zones, and 350,000 indirect beneficiaries who learn
of Public Domain Zones. Of these, 100 participants, 500 direct beneficiaries,
and 3,500 indirect beneficiaries will be from our target group.
The Campaign for Working Openly draws on the experience of "Minčių sodas"
since 1998 to build a network of 100 active and 1000 supportive independent
thinkers around the world, of whom 20% are in Lithuania. The network has been
roughly doubling in size each year.
Most independent thinkers are found through conversations at public forums such
as conferences. Some are referred to us or find us through the web. We expect
radio and television to help attract more. Physical meeting is crucial for the
network to function. We need to travel throughout the countryside, organize
monthly gatherings, advance meaningful endeavors, and look everywhere for
independent thinkers.
It is important to get their permission to subscribe them to a discussion group
if they have email. Then over several months they get an understanding of how
they might participate in our network. For those without email, we should send
them materials in the mail for three months to see if they might respond, in
which case we may provide them a year long subscription to "Literatūra and menas".
By this time they have understood the rules and purposes of the Public Domain
Zones. They are encouraged to send email directly to the various online groups.
Or they may send mail which Vykintas Augustaitis of "Šakių bendruomenės centras"
will transcribe and forward as most effective. Online moderators will help each
other translate and forward excerpts and responses. We avoid debate or small
talk, and focus on working openly to advance shared endeavors. Alvydas Čepulis
will collect the most effective excerpts and present them through the Public
Domain Zone at "Literatūra ir menas".
"Šakių bendruomenės centras" will also organize data entry into WOW, an online
navigation system developed by Andrius Kulikauskas, Ph.D. of "Minčių sodas". WOW
integrates web pages wherever they may be, and also uses wikis to create web
pages on the fly. We created our first WOW system of 1000 web pages using only
40 hours of coding and 40 hours of data entry. WOW will help us coordinate our
efforts, so that more people might learn of independent thinkers, visit them and
help them present themselves through the Web. Radio and television shows may use
WOW to find interesting people.
WOW and "working openly" will help us respond quickly to opportunities for
knowledge work in both local and export markets. Independent thinkers with IT
expertise will share that under the "Minčių sodas" brand at a Public Domain Zone
in "Naujoji komunikacija", a partner of "PC Magazine". The "Minčių sodas" brand
will help them offer themselves as consultants to Lithuania's corporations.
"Minčių sodas" will also adapt and market WOW for international projects. "Minčių
sodas" has already assembled independent thinkers in eleven different languages,
and moderators will use activity in Lithuania to help engage these groups. The
ERDE consortium has invited us, through our partner "Varėnos technologijos ir
verslo mokykla", to host an international meeting in the summer of 2005 on the
inclusion of independent thinkers with marginal Internet access. OneVillage.Biz
in California wants to invite our project leader and WOW inventor Andrius
Kulikauskas, Ph.D. to adapt WOW to address the HIV/AIDS challenge in Africa.
Liaudies kūrybos klubas "Atžalynas", in the minority neighborhood of Pavilnys in
Vilnius, will serve as our base for engaging independent thinkers in Russia and
Belarus.
With the help of pilieciai.lt, we will encourage Lithuania's online forums to
declare themselves Public Domain Zones, and will circulate their correspondence.
Internationally, "Minčių sodas" will promote PrimarilyPublicDomain.org, which it
established in 2002 for declaring materials "Public Domain except as noted", and
also the Open People Network of people "working openly", for which it created
WOW http://www.primarilypublicdomain.org/1.html Our opportunity grows as our
network expands.
The Campaign for Working Openly will include an investigation by Andrius Kulikauskas, Ph.D. of the effectiveness of the many channels and their combinations.
The WOW for Lithuania, and associated databases, will be used to log material as it appears in various channels. Monthly snapshots will be taken of the WOW system for Lithuania, and date created stamps will exist for each entry. This WOW will also be used to document the independent thinkers who are discovered. This data can be explored to learn which content flows are most prominent and effective.
The investigation will include social metrics that measure effectiveness of response and social capital accrued. It will also include economic metrics to document, measure and understand the economic benefits and costs that arise because of the campaign.
"Šakių bendruomenės centras" is lead full-time by Vykintas Augustaitis, the
sole employee. He is the editor of http://www.sakieciai.lt, one of the best
websites in Lithuania serving local communities. The website shows, on average,
25 new items each month contributed by two local newspapers, the municipal
government, and many local leaders.
"Minčių sodas" is helping to extend this vision with a larger team. "Minčių
sodas" is the brainchild of director and sole proprietor Andrius Kulikauskas. It
is an open laboratory serving and organizing independent thinkers around the
world. There are currently 100 active and 1000 supportive participants around
the world, with roughly 20% in Lithuania. Much of the activity takes place
through Internet discussion groups, but public meetings have also been held in
Vilnius, Kaunas, Alytus, Anykščiai, Varėna, Marcinkonys, Kelmė and Naujoji
Akmenė. "Minčių sodas" has been doubling in size each year.
Vykintas Augustaitis of "Šakių bendruomenės centras " has his office in Šakiai.
He will telecommute from his office in Šakiai, and travel as needed throughout
Lithuania. Andrius Kulikauskas of "Minčių sodas" has his office at Liaudies
kūrybos klubas "Atžalynas" in the Pavilnys neighborhood of Vilnius. Alvydas
Čepulis, who will serve as editor for a Public Domain Zone in "Literatūra ir
menas", will also work from there.
The members of "Minčių sodas" have already demonstrated their ability to generate over 10,000 thoughtful letters in the Public Domain, of which 20% are in Lithuanian. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/minciu_sodas_LT/ They have also held gatherings in Vilnius, Kaunas, Alytus, Naujoji Akmenė, Anykščiai, Kelmė, Varėna, Marcinkonys and have worked closely with the Lithuanian Computer Society. Most of this activity comes from people "working for free" on their own projects.
"Minčių sodas" Direktorius Andrius Kulikauskas, Ph.D. has shown that from Lithuania, with the help of this network, he can find and serve international clients who pay $40 per hour. He has found clients who are willing to pay $15 per hour for him to work openly, so that the work product belongs to the public. He has sold to clients, for $195 a month, a small-team-building service for open projects such as open source software. He has also outlined a large-team-building service which has attracted the attention of business networkers at Ecademy.
If he is able to generate a consistent stream of part-time work, then he can work as he travels regularly throughout the Lithuanian countryside. The key value of the independent thinkers there is that they can support an independent mindset that helps us shake loose of local presumptions and be ready to understand and serve people of other cultures or mindsets. Independent thinkers, when they are not discouraged, attract youth and others who are highly employable. IT specialists who serve them find themselves thinking with a fresh and open mind. We will develop "Minčių sodas" as a brand admired throughout Lithuania so that they might offer consulting services to Lithuania's enterprises as individuals and teams.
In this way, a modest investment makes for a laboratory distributed throughout Lithuania, with bases at "Šakių bendruomenės centras", "Varėnos technologijos ir verslo mokykla" and Liaudies kūrybos klubas "Atžalynas". As people circulate throughout the countryside, they help encourage a mindset of "thinking differently". Working openly, our ideas and endeavors bring success at international business networking, and we can meet work opportunity with a pool of talent from Lithuania and beyond. We find that, in the long run, it is better to invest in independent thinkers so they might learn needed skills, then to hire specialists who work only for money, aren't interested to think independently, and need expensive managers to tell them what to do. We also find that projects like WOW allow us to serve our own needs and those of our partners, and make it easy for us to openly promote our services.
A culture of independent thinking, online organizing and open sharing is an enormous asset in connecting and bridging the American, European, Spanish, Indian, Russian, Chinese, Islamic and other worlds. "Minčių sodas" members worldwide draw on its integrity for their business projects. Revenues from team projects will, in the future, pay the bill for cost-effective channels such as the "Literatūra ir menas" Public Domain Zone. The flows of content that we let loose will also make for business opportunity for those, such as our regional media coach Vykintas Augustaitis, who can serve as business networkers, both online and offline. As we openly "work for free" on our own projects, we all build relationships that we can swiftly leverage for "work for pay".
Establishment of Public Domain Zones:
Circulation of ideas across Public Domain Zones:
Development, customization and data accumulation for WOW online navigation system:
Contingent on co-funding:
We will show that "working openly" we can create 10 full-time and part-time jobs:
We will energize and integrate 300 contributors around the world, one-third of them throughout the Lithuanian countryside. We expect them to help each other make advances in their endeavors.
We will embolden 4000 independent thinkers who can point to their participation within the Public Domain Zone community.
We will reach 20000 regular readers of publications with Public Domain Zones who will form personal understandings of their effectiveness and importance.
We will reach 350000 people who will learn of Public Domain Zones.
The Campaign for Working Openly is novel in that personal and private interests are inspired to work absolutely openly, publicly and freely to establish and leverage a new social culture in Lithuania and beyond. Innovations include:
Focusing on independent thinkers as the sources for social and economic change.
Thinking of wealth in terms of relationships, contexts, assets instead of knowledge, rights, profits.
Valuing contributions from those outside the Internet culture.
Relying on independent thinkers as ambassadors for bridging cultures.
Employing and developing a navigation system WOW which showcases existing pages that live on the web rather than store data to rot in a database.