Demotech, design for self reliance
 

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Demotech

Hi, Welcome to Demotech, design for self reliance!

Demotech is an organization based in Maastricht, in The Netherlands which tests and promotes a unique approach to sustainability, development, and daily living around the globe. This section of the website will introduce you to Demotech, its initiatives, ideas, members, and ambitions. Please follow the links to specific pages and documents. Below you will find a general introduction to Demotech thinking, theory and practice.

Demotech: an introduction

Dear Reader,
I wish you, reader of this story, a long and happy life. Your life, the way you live it and what it means to you and the people around you is what our research centers on. We want to get more out of life: fun, meaning, friendship and ... comfort. That is why we work, for ourselves, and for you. What we produce is for ourselves as for you free for the taking.

Re-design is our job. Re-designing concepts, tools, methods, ideas to make them accessible and affordable to everybody in the world. By re-designing the way we live, Demotech works to improve our lives with techniques and tricks aimed at a single over arching goal: More Joy Per Person.

What bothers us most is that successfully participating in a rich society creates little joy for its participants. Notwithstanding the immense use as well as destruction of resources. Notwithstanding the cheap labor of poor people that is abundantly made use of.

What amazes us most is joy and merriness that we observe in the streets of poor countries, where people live with a hundred fold lower income. As a research organization Demotech want to explore the reason for the lack of fun when being rich and the presence of joy when being poor. According all economic know-how it should be the other way round, but this is clearly not the case.

The results of this research is documented in this web page. Working with students and professionals, with people in poor and rich countries, Demotech combines theoretical research and practical applications to uncover a new technology guided by our own values. However, 'Democracy Supporting Technology' has a lot to accomplish before it deserves that name. Being aware of the shortcomings of contemporary technology is good for a start. Getting results asks for more. It asks for the highest targets, the smartest innovation, endless debugging and deep awareness during practical testing and actual use. As time has taught us some of the tricks, we are overwhelmed by the rich potential of our approach. Therefore this website is a call for participation!

We ask you, dear reader, to take the time to read this website and add your own critical thinking to our ongoing action.

All Yours,

The Demotech Team



Related Publications


Technology for Ten Billion People
The basics of Demotech Design Initiatives
Entrepeneurship after 9/11

© 2012, Demotech