NPDD/Baobáxia/OTF 2014

--Basic information--

     Your name: Vincenzo Tozzi      Your email: vince@mocambos.net      Give your project a name: Baobáxia (BBX)

--More about you--

     What is your current or most recent position and employer or      research institution? Coordinator of R&D group of Mocambos      Network and Vice-President of Casa de Cultura Tainã      What are (or were) you doing there and what was your role? I work      with Mocambos Network since around 9 years and I'm coordinating      NPDD, that's Mocambos Digital Research and Development Group.      Mocambos is a grassroots network of mainly quilombos communities,      but also indigenous aldeias and urban cultural communities. I'm      vicepresident of Casa de Cultura Tainã, who started Mocambos      Network and that is nationally and internationally known for its      commitment to afrobrazilian culture and free digital culture.      Have you ever applied to OTF in the past? No      Please list any urls including personal website, github,      facebook, twitter, etc. that you might want us to see.:      NPDD wiki home:      http://acs.taina.net.br/wiki/NPDD      Our main project Baobáxia, wiki home:      http://acs.taina.net.br/wiki/NPDD/Baobáxia      Direct access to one of running Baobáxia node,  called "mucua"      (in alpha, sometimes need a to refresh/ctrl+r):      http://baobaxia.mocambos.net/      Github Baobáxia code repository:      http://github.com/RedeMocambos/baobaxia

--Your project--

--What is your idea?--

         Describe it:

The ideia starts form the Route of Baobabs. One of          Mocambos network founder, TC, started planting Baobabs in          quilombos and Mocambos communities as a symbol of a freed          land/place. Baobabs in Africa are very important for      spiritual          and also nutritional/practical reasons. Since very old time,      and          because Baobabs are estimated to live more than 5000 thousand          years, they are very important to communities and become the          places where people meets and share most important events and          memory. Baobáxia stands for Galaxy of Baobabs and is the      digital          dimension we are creating to renew Baobab tradition,      "technology"          and culture. So BBX is a network of local, eventually      connected,          nodes that we call Mucuas, that is a name for Baobab fruit      (we          don't need more server and "slavery ideology"). Mucuas can      work          disconnected and synchronize eventually by internet or with      other          media or devices (it's a paradigm similar to delay tolerant          networks). First meta, already in alpha, is to use as a          decentralized digital archive but we think at Baobáxia as a          communication paradigm and architecture, so we are thinking      on a          new field for R&D based on these concepts.          How long have you been thinking of working on this idea? What          made you first think about it? Sincerely, I believe I'm in      this          idea since very long long time. Since 3 years that I'm      working on          it full time. The first time I started to think on this      paradigm          was 2008, looking at a point to point radio communication      system          I saw in some quilombos communities in Amazonia. They had a      quite          complex infrastructure and logistic to achieve a basic voice          communication, based on retransmission of messages from          communities to communities until get to the nearest city and          back.

Who are your collaborators, if any, on this idea and how are they involved?

We are working on Baobáxia, since the beginning,          together with some communities of Mocambos Network. There are          people more involved in software part of the project, like          Fernão and Nara, Baobáxia UI developers, and people, like      TC,          Angel, Guilherme, who are working on coordinating activities      with          local communities and working on video and multimedia      production.          We have done a lot of workshops, labs, and discussion with a      lot          of communities and there are already at least around 20          communities who's interested in learning more, developing and          work with BBX. That's already around 10% of Mocambos Network          communities and interests is growing fast.

Why did you pick this idea to work on? Do you have domain expertise in this area? Why are you the right person to work on it? :

In 1998, when I was 17 years old, I made, as the final school work, a study called Human-E-CO-Science, joking on words human, eco, science and consciousness. It was a wide discussion about relation between technology and nature. Than I studied Computer Science, I left for years because i moved to Brazil and started working in 2005 with Mocambos Network. In 2012 I rejoined and finished the course and my thesis was titled "Eventually connected federated networks. An architecture and prototype for Mocambos Network". Baobáxia software development started with that work , and so these are some of Baobáxia roots that connects to me.

What's new about what you're thinking? What alternatives do people resort to because it doesn't exist yet (or they don't know about it)? :

         I'm/we are thinking something new and something old. We are          looking at new technologies giving again value to traditional      and          common human practices of living, communicating and sharing          information and things.          We believe that communication can regain it's human values      with a          more decentralized and locally driven technology and          infrastructure. We started thinking and discussing cloudy          centralized Internet paradigm that maybe is not so healty and          sustainable because it's too time and resource consuming. We      need          more disconnected time again to focus on our real human      needs.          This is not about running away from Internet.. we know how          important can be. Most Mocambos communities have very bad or      no          internet connection, and we worked a lot to get access to          internet. Since around 2004 we got connection for around a          hundred communities. But we also see how strong is the power      of          internet media products and "social networks" that is even      more          critical in traditional communities like quilombos and      indigenous          aldeia. These communities are seeding all their traditional          cultural, memories, and histories in a digital land that      doesn't          belong to them (cloud) and doesn't respect at all their      cultural          identities. This is not only related to traditional      communities          like in Mocambos network. We believe Internet should be a      network          of networks build from grassroots communities and      technologically          empowered people. Now people who get connected is to much          connected and who's is not connected it's to much isolated.      We          are trying our way.. eventually connected.          What significant challenges do you expect to encounter while          perusing this idea? Being a different paradigm and contexts      we'll          need to work on solutions that involve knowledge in all      areas.          The ideia is based on a network of mucuas, that are, in main      part          autonomous local networks, so the main challenge is teaching      and          empowering more people from these communities. There are few          developers committed to work on pattern that go out of the      main          stream, like creating technologies with/for offline people      (we          should say "differently on-line" people). That's a problem.          

What do you understand about your idea that others doing similar things just don't get?

Quilombolas and indigenous always          reference the fight for land, as the First fight. So, we look      at          local node/mucuas as our fight for a "digital land". Being a          Mucua your territory you can really work, experiment, and      take          the fruits of what are "planting on it". And you can still      work          if there is no internet. The Internet model of centralized          services means few people can really administrate these      "lands"          for the simple reason that they should have a high level of      trust          and tech knowledge to give access to a centralized system      that          for example, if stops, stops for everybody. We strongly      believe          that having each communities it's own mucua, digital land, to          experiment and work they can grow faster and involve and      teach          more people.         

How far along are you? Do you have a beta or draft yet? If not, when will you? Have you already gone public? Are people talking about it? If so, who? Are people using it? If so, tell us how and how many? :

There are already 14 mucuas, 6 are moveable and 8      are          in communities. We started "planting" the first mucuas, with      a          alpha version of Baobáxia, around 2 months ago and we      already          have more than 200 hundreds videos and media contents      published          with already 37 real users.          If you have an online demo or viewable work, what's the url?          http://baobaxia.mocambos.net

--How will you do it?--

         Describe how: We are already working on Baobáxia with a          partnership with Bank of Brazil Foundation that ended this      month,          dez/2014. We need to grant more support to the development      group          and prepare more people to manage local mucuas. We are      discussing          partnership with some universities and R&D centers to grant          access to more people. Our main development group is based      near          Brasilia and we work together with other people by net but          frequently organizing real meeting. We have contact and we      work          with free software gurus of different countries, like Joey      Hess          dev of git-annex that is supporting our work. Next step is          getting a first stable release, debugging, packaging and          optimizing the code. Next step is also empowering our network          infrastructure.          

When would you ideally start and why? : We are already at work! How long will it take? (1-12 months):

12          If we fund you, will you be committing to working exclusively      on          this idea for this duration? Yes.     

Would other funders be interested in supporting it? Could this idea make money? If so, how much and how? (We realize you can't know precisely, but give your best estimate.):

         We are already working on creating local communities R&D      groups          in cooperation with Universities and Institutions. A lot of          schools are also interested in the technology and digital      archive          contents also. We can provide this solution to public          telecenters, schools and associations. Being a communication          paradigm that doesn't need connection infrastructure can be          potentially revolutionary in a lot of South American and          African countries creating a lot of new work possibilities.

--Who will it help?--

         Describe them:          Mocambos Network is connecting around 200 hundred communities      all          over Brazil and with growing connections with South America,          Africa and Europe. They are mainly afrodescendants      communities,          quilombos, indigenous, traditional communities, urban      cultural          groups and associations..          You can see a map here (user and pass: livre):          http://mapa.mocambos.net          How will you get them to know about it? If your idea is the      type          that faces a chicken-and-egg problem in the sense that it      won't          be attractive or important to people until it has a lot of      people          involved, how will you overcome that? We are already working          together.          Why do they need it?          Baobáxia is already used for strategic communication and      digital          memory preservation for ethnic groups like quilombolas and          indigenous communities that are facing violence and      increasing          attacks to their right to exist in their land. Brazil is a          "growing country" where agrobusiness and mineral exploitation          model is threatening traditional communities each day more.          Baobáxia will help to preserve immaterial heritage and          communities memory directly in the communities and spreading      to          the world. This media contents will also a base for community          pedagogy that can be provided with different local means      (radio,          tv, wifi..)          Mucuas can prevent sharing outside the communities sensitive          contents, but at the same time can help sistematically      reporting          of violence situations.