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1-2 years from now…

What does success for GOAT look like?

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Session Goals & Agenda

GOAT Manifesto

Mission

Vision

Principles

Values

Outcomes

Governance Methods

Funding Open Ag Tech

Challenge Areas

Functions

Funding

… Structures

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Framing Open Ag Tech

What counts?

Something anyone can use: Libre (free as in speech)

    • Accessible to all users
    • Accessible to all developers/creators
    • /visionaries
    • Access to collective wisdom

On Data

    • Data should be appropriately fair and FAIR
    • Provide data choices and agency
    • Open within the community it impacts not necessarily all public

Open processes

    • Tech adapts to users
    • Excitement and passion about helping your peers
    • Tech should be accountable to users
    • We aspire for our tech not to get between us and nature
    • Tech does not consume our attention/helps us focus
    • Tech should not extractive: regenerative ag both financially and environmentally profitable
    • Hardware considerations: circular economies, thinking about planned obsolescence, right to repair, sharing tools

What is technology?

    • “The sum of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the accomplishment of the objective”
    • “Tool that saves time, money, and my body” + carbon
    • From wheelbarrows to mobile apps
    • Technology is design + science + nature + art
    • Embodies your personal values

Aspirational vs Reflective stances on tech

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open ag tech at GOAT is…

AGRI

CULTURE

FOOD

ECOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY

COMMUNITY

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Working GOAT Vision Statement

We are a opinionated principled community that technology that is open to diverse agricultural approaches.

  • Focused on tech, have opinions, passionate, [diverse values].
  • Vision statement – single sentence.

We practice radical mindfulness and transparency.

We acknowledge that the technologies we produce have real impact in the world.

We prioritize social and environmental wellbeing.

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Quick Check-In re: Vocab

Ethics: Ethics are “well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues” (Velasquez et al., 1987).

Values: Values are defined as goals that are desirable, worthwhile, or good, and are perceived to transcend particular situations to be broadly applicable to social life (Fleischmann 2013).

Principles: principles are an actionable prescriptions of a community derived through ethical consideration of values.

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Ethical Consideration of Shared Values

Ethical consideration is at the core of GOAT. However, not all members of the GOAT communities subscribe to the same value set.

What are your values in the context of open ag tech?

Activity [10 minute]

Respond on sticky note

Pass to Juliet & Ankita to Cluster

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Reflection on Shared Values

[insert themes based on clusters]

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Principles (Flashcards) Yes to Left. No to Right.

Open Ag Tech should be transparent.

Open Ag Tech should support data sovereignty.

Open Ag Tech should support food sovereignty.

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Principles (Flashcards) Yes to Left. No to Right.

Open Ag Tech fosters collective capacity.

Open Ag Tech should support agriculture AND the food system.

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Principles (Flashcards) Yes to Left. No to Right.

GOAT is a space for generative dialogue about technology as it applies to food and agriculture.

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Principles (Flashcards) Yes to Left. No to Right.

GOAT should support tech that increases ecologically and socially resilience.

GOAT should support tech that designs for ecology and society.

GOAT should support all tech that is open source, regardless of intent.

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Principles (Flashcards) Yes to Left. No to Right.

GOATs should practice radical mindfulness.

GOAT should empower people.

GOAT should care about all farmers.

GOAT should care about food system workers.

GOAT should co-develop with existing collectives.

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Function Hopscotch

GOAL

A roadmap that promotes research and collaborative development

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Challenges

Fostering a Culture of Maintenance

How do we ensure that there is a vibrant community of both paid and volunteer developers, users, and stewards of critical software utilities and open ag tech?

Shared public resources?

Open ag tech utilities?

Functions of GOAT?

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Challenges

Human-Centered and Ecologically Oriented Design

How can we reorient our design practice to focus on improving usability for both human and non-human stakeholders? How can we ensure that our technology design efforts are ecologically supportive?

Shared public resources?

Open ag tech utilities?

Functions of GOAT?

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Challenges

Cultivating a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Community

How can we deliberately invite and cultivate partnerships with existing networks of diverse stakeholders of open ag tech?

Shared public resources?

Open ag tech utilities?

Functions of GOAT?

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GOAT Functions

GOAT is about connecting, visualizing, and cataloging the community.

GOAT is a platform for creating a shared roadmap for open ag tech.

GOAT facilitates community building.

GOAT is more that just a conference.

We co-develop with/at other organizations/events.

GOAT facilitates building of shared knowledge and information.

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Community Engagement

Discussions so far:

    • Democratically governed organization
    • Elected volunteers with 1-3 year terms

Different levels of engagement?

Democratic control?

Economic participation?

Autonomous and independent?

Decentralized governance?

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Funding Mechanisms

Types of grants & agencies

Values on sponsorship

Thinking beyond grants

Thinking

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Source Materials