Fabricating Equity
Published on January 15th, 2024
Advanced manufacturing with digital technology offers a unique opportunity for the creation of groundbreaking products and services, which can remake traditional industries and improve lives everywhere. The Fab Foundation is dedicated to promoting and facilitating the expansion of advanced manufacturing capabilities around the world, working to democratize access to the tools and knowledge that allow anyone, anywhere to make (almost) anything. To that end, the Foundation is partnering with MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), Instituto de Diseño e Innovación Tecnológica (IDIT) Ibero Puebla, the Fab City Global Initiative, and a regional consortium of government agencies in Puebla, México to host FAB24 México — August 3-9, 2024.
This occasion marks the 20th edition of the international Fab Lab Conference & Symposium. Since 2005, members of the Fab Lab network—comprising more than 2,700 Fab Labs worldwide—have gathered annually to share their work and findings in the fields of digital manufacturing, innovation, sustainability, and technology. The conference is hosted in a different country each year to support the regional development of digital fabrication solutions in emerging economies all across the globe. The event purposefully leverages the combined strength of local and global networks, bringing together a pioneering community of makers, inventors, educators, and academics, along with government, industry, and thought leaders, to explore the transformative power of technical innovation.
FAB24 México will be a platform for sharing experiences and expertise with curious learners and passionate activists who are working to create positive change in their communities and build a sustainable future for all citizens of the world. The program will feature a variety of hands-on workshops, interactive panel discussions, academic research presentations, engaging keynote talks, and vibrant cultural performances. Anticipating the participation of a few thousand attendees from over 50 different countries, the event will center on a theme of universal concern: Fabricating Equity.
Fabricating equity represents our vision of a world where economic, social, and educational gaps are reduced through equitable access to technological and educational tools. We strive to provide equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, to have access to digital transformation and innovation.
At Fab Lab Puebla, we have an important group of committed professionals who are working together to bring the project forward. We also have a large number of generous volunteers who are looking to collaborate, like a Fab family.
At FAB24, you will find a vibrant community eager to welcome many different people. And everything will revolve around an extraordinary culinary and cultural experience—including Fab Festival, held at the foot of the largest pyramid on earth, a fashion show, and an art exhibition. Finally, we will close the event with a big Mexican Fiesta, featuring our world heritage cuisine and live performances by Mariachis.
— Aristarco Cortes Martin, Deputy Director of Commerce and Projects, IDIT Ibero Puebla
At IDIT Puebla’s state-of-the-art facility for digital fabrication, participants will explore the latest advances in cutting-edge technology, such as 3D printing and advanced manufacturing, CAD design, laser machining, robotics, electronics, and computation. While learning about these advanced technologies, participants will forge pathways for collaboration across international borders to activate a glocal—global and local—creative network to solve relevant challenges. As members of a unified community, attendees will work toward the development of solutions to complex projects, impacting social and cultural practices, education, entrepreneurship, economy, health, transportation, and nearly every other imaginable aspect of life—both human and non-human. A key objective of this collective effort is to promote equity and social justice globally by co-developing technological, frugal, and innovative solutions for social problems that can be implemented and replicated in local contexts across the planet.
We are hosting FAB24 in Puebla because the region is representative of the diverse challenges and cultures experienced across the world. It is a thriving manufacturing center, a technologically rich and innovative community. It includes indigenous communities, as well as artists and crafters. It includes both wealth and poverty.
The digital divide is real, and one of our goals for FAB24 México is to bring digital fabrication and related technologies to under-resourced communities and engage them in developing solutions to challenges that they face. In order to create a sustainable world, we need to tap into the mindshare of the entire planet, in all its diversity, when innovating solutions. FAB24 is designed to leave behind a footprint of positive growth for everyone.
— Sherry Lassiter, President and CEO, The Fab Foundation
Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, Puebla is a region of profound cultural significance in Mexican history. And the impact of its legacy has only grown in the modern era. Today, it is a thriving hub of innovation across industries, from automobile manufacturing to agriculture. Alongside tech-driven commercial development, novel approaches to sustainable urban renewal are also being pioneered there. And yet, many in the area face considerable economic hardship. As such, leaders have prioritized equity and inclusivity in their push for social and economic progress, combining perspectives from business, academia, government, and the surrounding community to ensure that all stakeholder groups are represented. For these reasons and so many more, Puebla seems an ideal setting for FAB24, a gathering dedicated to crafting practical responses to the most intractable challenges faced by modern society.
FABx events are open to all, attracting a diverse range of thinkers, makers, and doers. FAB24 México attendees are invited to experience an expansive array of programs on offer August 3-9, beginning with the free, two-day Fab Festival. Additionally, Fab City Foundation will be hosting the Fab México Challenge (July 26 - August 2) and the Fab City Summit (August 11-14). And, of course, everyone is encouraged to extend their adventure beyond the main event to explore the vast cultural riches of Puebla and the surrounding area.
Tickets may be purchased here.
Questions? Please write to us directly: fabevents@fabfoundation.org
The Fab Foundation, which emerged from MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms Fab Lab Program, is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes digital fabrication around the world. The Foundation operates a global network of Fab Labs—community-based workshops that provide access to the tools and technologies of advanced manufacturing. The Fab Foundation organizes the annual FABx event, bringing together makers, innovators, educators, and community leaders from around the world to explore and celebrate the transformative power of digital fabrication.
MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) is an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science. Launched by a National Science Foundation award in 2001, CBA studies how to turn data into things and things into data. It manages facilities, runs research programs, supervises students, works with sponsors, creates startups, and does public outreach.
Instituto de Diseño e Innovación Tecnológica (IDIT) Ibero Puebla is an open innovation ecosystem that uses cutting-edge technology to develop innovative solutions for communities, companies and government through applied research projects in conjunction with academia. It seeks to bring the most advanced technology and knowledge of design and digital production to all people who have innovative ideas or projects with potential for success.
The Fab City Global Initiative facilitates the connection between the maker movement and policymakers in order to build critical momentum toward the development of a new production paradigm—where food, energy, and products are made using local infrastructure and materials. The knowledge and open source prototypes created for this local production are then shared globally, thanks to the power of the internet.
The state and municipal governments of Puebla are working together to improve the quality of life for all citizens of the Puebla region in México. As a united force, they have committed to providing direct support for FAB24 in our collective effort toward fabricating equity.