¶ ThingData
Direct links:
¶ Summary
ThingData is the design concept of an open and collectively governed database to help achieve a longer lifetime for goods and materials. Recycling alone cannot cope with the escalating volume of waste produced every day. ThingData enables alliances between diverse stakeholders to generate, evaluate, maintain, and publicly offer data about material products and objects and how to maintain, transform and revalue them. Relevant data are, for instance, entries on how to reuse different kinds of products through repairs, adaptations, replacements and substitutions, as well as the appropriate measures for properly recycling and disposing of them. ThingData helps boost policies and initiatives of waste prevention in line with principles of a more circular economy, right to repair and other related fields. It is open-source and collectively governed technology, providing benefits for diverse stakeholders and creating economic opportunities.
¶ Motivation
Research shows that investment in waste prevention is typically more effective than incremental improvements in waste management. Further, premature recycling can often equate to missed opportunities for local businesses, social enterprises and nonprofits. Legislation pieces concerning the circular economy, the priority of waste reduction over recycling and the right to repair are currently being discussed and approved in diverse geographical contexts. However, data resources to support the reuse of materials through repairs, upcycling and recirculation are fragmented and inconsistent.
Indeed, information on how to reuse, repair and upcycle goods and materials is generated and published online everyday by a diversity of actors: manufacturers, professional repairers, artists, educators and hobbyists, among others. However, such information is fragmented on multiple websites, video platforms, forums and social networks. ThingData seeks to overcoming such inconsistencies with a combination of contemporary technology and open governance principles.
ThingData offers socially inclusive and context-aware forms of supporting the reuse of goods and materials. It is a crucial piece in the complex puzzle of mitigating the impacts of industrial production while helping society cope with the growing volume of things being prematurely discarded or left unused. It will use AI and machine learning to collect and organise data from varied sources and make it publicly available for varied actors to use.
The project was designed to benefit multiple stakeholders, ranging from international environmental agencies to repair professionals and hobbyists. By organising data that is today scattered through the internet, it provides clear concrete advantages to individuals, businesses, nonprofits and communities seeking information on how to reuse things. Additionally, it offers structured forms for manufacturers to publish data about their products and adhere to “Right to Repair” regulations, whilst also allowing other stakeholders to check, maintain and expand on those data. Finally, it will fuel third-party products to be based in its open dataset.
¶ Development
The pilot phase of ThingData will result in a public web-based prototype. It will feature consistent sample data — entries on varied products and the corresponding service manuals, lists of components and parts, as well as examples of how to reuse and transform them. Additionally, the groundwork for a broader development of ThingData will be laid. The following activities will be performed during the period:
- Workshops to specify the ThingData protocol, as well as its data infrastructure and open governance principles.
- Collection of sample data on representative examples of relevant goods and materials.
- Specification and setup of backend data storage for the ThingData dataset.
- Development of ThingWiki, a web interface to access the ThingData dataset and edit it collaboratively.
- Building of partnerships with stakeholders.
ThingData is developed in partnership with Global Innovation Gathering e.V. (GIG), who will commit resources and seek additional funding to help set it up it as a co-owned international project. GIG will also help extend the reach of ThingData, establishing alliances with international initiatives experienced in reuse, repair and social innovation.
Expected Outputs
In its pilot phase, ThingData will focus on the following outputs and associated documentation:
- ThingData Protocol: structured data format to enable the exchange of data about things.
- ThingData Infrastructure: ways to harvest, organise and store data about things, including measures for dependability and conflict resolution, and considerations on decentralisation and federation of varied data sources.
- ThingData Governance: how to integrate the expertise, interests and capabilities of its diverse stakeholders.
- ThingWiki: a web-based pilot implementation of the ThingData protocol, data infrastructure and governance principles, with sample data. Released for public access, edits, and replication.
¶ Background
ThingData is a spin-off of my PhD investigation (Northumbria University / Mozilla Foundation) in a project funded by the Marie Curie Programme / H2020. During four years, I conducted design research studies to acquire a system-based view on the reuse of things and materials, and created a series of design concepts in response. I have investigated social and conceptual aspects of waste prevention through community-based practices of material reuse and its systemic conditions and implications.
I have been involved with social-environmental innovation, open-source technologies and the commons-based governance of shared resources since the early 2000s. During that time, I gained experience in creating and leading initiatives of technology for the public good that combine knowledge from diverse sectors to address pressing contemporary issues.
My PhD builds on design research and participatory action research to promote a fundamental, but seldom supported, approach to waste management strategies. After finishing my thesis in March 2024, I decided to use my hands-on experience as a technologist, community organizer and activist to implement my findings.
I am partnering with GIG to leverage their network of innovation hubs in 40+ countries in the global south and benefit from their expertise and partnerships. GIG members include many designers and technologists with a strong focus on open source, social innovation and environmental issues.
¶ Research background
ThingData is based on the following studies conducted during my doctoral investigation:
- Repair Journey.
- Ecosystem Mapping.
- reuse.city co-design lab.
It is connected with the following concept ideas and prototypes:
¶ Benchmarks and reference projects
- Interfacer Project https://www.interfacerproject.eu/
- IFIXIT Repair Guides https://www.ifixit.com/Guide
- Instructables https://www.instructables.com/
- YouTube search for “repair” https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=repair
- Right to Repair Campaign https://repair.eu/
- Reddit search on “repair” https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=repair
- fixfirst.io https://www.fixfirst.io/
- Thingiverse https://www.thingiverse.com/
- Persistent Things https://www.climate-kic.org/opinion/persistent-things/
- Open Know-How https://www.internetofproduction.org/openknowhow
- Open Know-Where https://www.internetofproduction.org/openknowwhere
- Open Repair Data Standard https://standard.openrepair.org/
- KnoWaste https://github.com/Dsposal/KnoWaste
- WasteNet https://recycleye.com/wastenet/
- Recicla Aí https://www.recicla.ai/
- Make Works https://make.works/
- London Repairs https://londonrepairs.org/
- Dsposl https://dsposal.uk/
- ReMap https://www.remap-berlin.de/
- Open Repair Alliance https://openrepair.org/
- Repair Circle https://www.repaircircle.eu/
- ReMap Berlin https://www.remap-berlin.de/karte
- Link list https://links.efeefe.me/?searchtags=thingdata