In a genral answer, Ourghema is an innovative space, I work on the community of Medenine and help them see the potenital they have in themselves, or in the region. So many great ideas were born in the space by this community, and they are still creating great things, now if this was created by a basic space, nothing but chairs, tables and a very basic coffee shop place, then what if this is developed? with technology? with greater human ressources?
Why Launching the Hackerspace?
Investing in technology, is something that the whole world is doing now, in this hackerspace the community will be introduced to new technologies and perspectives, this may help them start some new projects specially for the IT students (we have an IT university in Medenine so it will be benificial for them) and I aim to first work with children / students, introducing to them this world and how you may develop your ideas to a realistic things with technology, something that @matthias is doing all the time and inspries me with that.
Moreover, I basically didn’t invest financially in this, all the materials were a gift from Ibtakiroo Association, whom will be defining the strategic points of the hackerspace, along with my partner 3DPROTOKSI in the coming months.
Why Launching the Incubator?
Ourghema has been a dynamic space in its first year, I was observing these students how they think and how they process their ideas, I was amazed by their energy, but then I have always seen how the processing of the ideas are messed up! I have always had them coming to me and asking for help with that, so I thought Okey, why not launch an incubator! not for start ups, but for the organizations / associations and help their ideas become a more impactful actions! and in the future we will work on start ups as well!
Why working on the Open Village Spaces?
What if we have a network of changemaking spaces in the regions that wants to change their reality? Moving all together, supporting each other ? now if we speak about working on the MENA region, helping the social movement, and when we have a group of spaces moving together, can you imagine the impact of that? so this is not an activity or an event that would be funded once and then it is over, this is rather a link that can stand there for years, and that can reach thousands of people at the same time in the MENA region as a whole! so if we think numbers, if we think impact: that is BIG.
The Resources:
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Capital Resources: Which is already there (3D Printers / Laptop / Robotic Materials)
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Human Resources: Specialized / Experiences people ( 3DPROTOKSI / Ibtakiroo team…)
- Human Resources: Experienced People (volunteers as I can’t afford paying them, otherwise, financial resources would be needed)
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Human Resources: Experienced People
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Financial Resources
Less then three days I think would slow down the pace of the projects, Working more than three days is possible, I am flexible with time, but I will always need some days to work on the space (administrative papers, raw materials, the coffee shop, clubs…) and ensure that the daily activities of the space are going well.
I, personally, would always work on developing ourghema, you know that it wasn’t funded by anyone yet I launched it and I am seeing how it is getting bigger, how it is making great social impact and how it literally became home for ta lot of great people in Medenine, and now I am going to develop it and improve it, and I am already working on it, the incubator / Hackerspace are plans that are going to be a reality for sure, but then with your support they can even be more impactful!
Medenine is developing really quickly, and I think that in the future it will be a good destination for investment: if we think about the future, the companies that will work on rebuilding Libya, some of the companies that want to invest in Africa, are going to settle in Medenine (Along to that Medenine will be included in the silk road , and there are big Chinese / Tunisian projects that are going to be implemented in Medenine ) So I am seeing a huge potential.
This is the bigger picture of what I am seeing about Medenine, Ourghema’s role is to be part of this social / economic shift in the region, we help shape the young future change makers of the region and of Tunisia, the strategy is developing their soft skills / tech skills / and experiences through a set of activities and events, and through the space’s coworking / incubator / hackerspace…
The metrics are the number of initiatives that are going to be created, the number of people we are reaching, and even the regions that we cover, the economic growth as well.