What a scrapyard in Ghana can teach us about innovation | DK Osseo-Asare

翻译人员: jacks peng 校对人员: Cissy Yun

Come with me to Agbogbloshie,

和我一起去阿博布罗西。

a neighborhood in the heart of Accra,

阿克拉市中心的一个社区，

named after a god that lives in the Odaw River.

命名自一位住在奥德河的神。

There's a slum, Old Fadama,

那里有个贫民窟，老法达玛，

built on land reclaimed from the Korle Lagoon,

建在科勒泻湖填充而成的土地上，

just before it opens into the Gulf of Guinea.

就在它进入几内亚湾之前。

There's a scrapyard here where people take apart all kinds of things,

这里有一个废品回收站， 人们把各种各样的东西，

from mobile phones to computers,

从手机到电脑，

automobiles to even entire airplanes.

汽车甚至整架飞机拆分解。

Agbogbloshie's scrapyard is famous

阿博布罗西的废品回收很出名，

because it has become a symbol of the downside of technology:

因为它已经成为科技的负面标志：

the problem of planned obsolescence.

计划报废的问题。

It's seen as a place where devices from around the world end their life,

它是世界各地的设备 结束它们生命的地方，

where your data comes to die.

你的数据消亡的场所。

These are the images that the media loves to show,

这些照片是媒体喜欢展示的，

of young men and boys burning wires and cables

年轻人和小伙子燃烧电线和电缆

to recover copper and aluminum,

回收铜和铝，

using Styrofoam and old tires as fuel,

使用聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料和旧轮胎 作为燃料。

seriously hurting themselves and the environment.

严重伤害他们自己和环境。

It's a super-toxic process,

这是个毒性超强的过程，

producing pollutants that enter the global ecosystem,

产生进入全球生态系统的污染物，

build up in fatty tissue

沉淀在脂肪组织中

and threaten the top of the food chain.

并威胁食物链的顶端。

But this story is incomplete.

但这样的故事是不完整的。

There's a lot we can learn from Agbogbloshie,

我们可以从阿博布罗西学到很多，

where scrap collected from city- and nationwide is brought.

在那里收集了 全国和全球各地的废品。

For so many of us,

对我们很多人而言，

our devices are black boxes.

我们的设备是黑盒子。

We know what they do,

我们知道它们是做什么用的，

but not how they work or what's inside.

但不知道它们工作原理或里面有啥。

In Agbogbloshie, people make it their business

在阿博布罗西， 人们把它当作自己的生意，

to know exactly what's inside.

知道里面到底是什么。

Scrap dealers recover copper, aluminum, steel, glass, plastic

废品回收商回收 铜、铝、钢、玻璃、塑料

and printed circuit boards.

和印刷电路板。

It's called "urban mining."

这被称为“城市采矿”。

It's now more efficient for us to mine materials from our waste.

对我们来说， 从废品中开采材料更有效率。

There is 10 times more gold, silver, platinum, palladium

1吨电子产品中黄金，白银， 铂金，钯

in one ton of our electronics

的含量

than in one ton of ore mined from beneath the surface of the earth.

比地球表面下开采的同等矿石 要高10倍。

In Agbogbloshie,

在阿博布罗西，

weight is a form of currency.

重量是一种货币形态。

Devices are dissected to recover materials, parts and components

设备以难以想象的细致程度被分割

with incredible attention to detail,

以回收材料、部件和元件，

down to the aluminum tips of electric plugs.

细到电插头的铝尖。

But scrap dealers don't destroy components that are still functional.

但废品经销商不会破坏 仍能运作的部件。

They supply them to repair workshops like this one in Agbogbloshie

他们供给在阿博布罗西 像这样的维修店，

and the tens of thousands of technicians across the country

以及全国各地成千上万翻新电器

that refurbish electrical and electronic equipment,

和电子设备的技术人员，

and sell them as used products to consumers that may not be able to buy

把这些物品当二手产品卖给买不起

a new television or a new computer.

新电视机或新电脑的消费者。

Make no mistake about it, there are young hackers in Agbogbloshie --

毫无疑问，在阿博布罗西 有年轻的黑客，

and I mean that in the very best sense of that word --

我的确切意思是指

that know not only how to take apart computers

那些不仅知道如何把电脑拆开，

but how to put them back together, how to give them new life.

也知道如何组装起来， 赋予它们新的生命的人。

Agbogbloshie reminds us that making is a cycle.

阿博布罗西提醒我们 制造是一个循环。

It extends to remaking and unmaking

它延伸到重塑和分解，

in order to recover the materials that enable us to make something anew.

以恢复那些 使我们能够重新创造新事物的材料。

We can learn from Agbogbloshie,

我们可以像阿博布罗西了解到，

where cobblers remake work boots,

在那补鞋匠冲造工作靴，

where women collect plastic from all over the city,

女性从城市各处收集塑料，

sort it by type,

分门别类，

shred it, wash it

分解，清洗

and ultimately sell it back as feedstock to factories

并最终作为原料出售给工厂

to make new clothing,

去制造新的衣服，

new plastic buckets

新塑料桶

and chairs.

和椅子。

Steel is stockpiled separately,

钢被分开储存，

where the carcasses of cars and microwaves and washing machines

在那里汽车、微波炉和洗衣机的部件

become iron rods for new construction;

成为新建材的铁棒；

where roofing sheets become cookstoves;

屋顶的薄钢板变成炉灶；

where shafts from cars become chisels

汽车上的轴变成凿子

that are used to scrap more objects;

用来拆解更多的物品。

where aluminum recovered from the radiators of fridges

冰箱和空调的散热器中

and air conditioners

回收的铝

are melted down

被融化后

and use sand casting to make ornaments for the building industry,

用砂铸造为建筑行业的装饰，

for pots which are sold just down the street in the Agbogbloshie market

那些在阿博布罗西市场上卖的罐子里

with a full array of locally made ovens, stoves and smokers,

装满了各种各样本地制造的烤箱、 炉灶和排烟机，

which are used every day

每日用于

to make the majority of palm nut soups,

制作城里大部分的棕榈仁汤，

of tea and sugar breads,

茶和糖面包，

of grilled tilapia in the city.

还有烤罗非鱼。

They're made in roadside workshops like this one by welders like Mohammed,

它们是在这样的作坊里 像穆罕默德这样的焊工制作的，

who recover materials from the waste stream

他从废物流中回收各种材料

and use them to make all kinds of things,

使用来制作各种各样的东西，

like dumbbells for working out out of old car parts.

比如从旧汽车零件中制造出哑铃。

But here's what's really cool:

但最酷的是：

the welding machines they use look like this,

他们使用的焊接机器是这样的，

and they're made by specially coiling copper

它们是由旧变压器废料中回收的

around electrical steel recovered from old transformer scrap.

特殊的卷铜制成而成的。

There's an entire industry just next to Agbogbloshie

在阿博布罗西旁边就有个产业

making locally fabricated welding machines that power local fabrication.

制造焊接机器， 为本地制造提供动力。

What's really cool as well is that there's a transfer of skills and knowledge

真正酷的是知识和技能在

across generations,

不同代间的传承，

from masters to apprentices,

从师傅到学徒，

but it's done through active learning, through heuristic learning,

但这是通过主动学习，启发式学习，

learning by doing and by making.

通过动手和制作来学习的。

And this stands in sharp contrast

这与很多学生在学校的经历

to the experience of many students in school,

正好形成鲜明的对比，

where lecturers lecture,

那里上课就是上课，

and students write things down and memorize them.

学生把东西写下来记住。

It's boring, but the real problem is

这非常无趣，但真正的问题在于

this somehow preempts their latent or their inherent entrepreneurial power.

这某种程度上取代了他们的天赋 或他们与生俱来的创业能力。

They know books but not how to make stuff.

他们知道书本知识， 但不知道如何做事。

Four years ago, my cofounder Yasmine Abbas and I asked:

4年前，我的联合创始人Yasmine Abbas 和我问自己：

What would happen if we could couple

如果我们把非正规部门中

the practical know-how of makers in the informal sector

自学成才的人与

with the technical knowledge of students and young professionals

集科学，技术，工程，艺术和数学

in STEAM fields --

的STEAM教育体系

science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics --

中的学生和年轻专业人士的知识 结合在一起，

to build a STEAM-powered innovation engine

去构建STEAM模式的创新引擎

to drive what we call "Sankofa Innovation," which I'll explain.

去推动我们所说的“桑科法创新”的话， 会发生什么？

We took forays into the scrapyard

我们突袭了废品回收站

to look for what could be repurposed,

去寻找什么东西可以重新利用，

like DVD writers that could become laser etchers,

如DVD读写器可以变成 激光蚀刻机，

or the power supplies of old servers

或是旧服务器的电源

for a start-up in Kumasi making 3D printers out of e-waste.

为库马西的一家创业公司，为他们用 电子垃圾制作3D打印机提供电源。

The key was to bring together young people from different backgrounds

关键在于把来自不同背景的年轻人，

that ordinarily never have anything to do with each other,

他们平常基本不会产生任何联系，

to have a conversation about how they could collaborate

去就可能的协作进行对话

and to test and develop new machines and tools

并测试和开发新的机器和工具，

that could allow them to shred and strip copper instead of burning it,

这些工具可以让他们分解并剥去铜 而不是燃烧掉，

to mold plastic bricks and tiles,

去塑造塑料砖和瓦，

to build new computers out of components recovered from dead electronics,

用从废弃电子设备回收的部件 来制造新计算机，

to build a drone.

去制造无人机。

And here you can see it flying for the first time in Agbogbloshie.

你现在看到的是 它在阿博布罗西首航。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Yasmine and I have collaborated with over 1,500 young people,

Yasmine和我与超过1500位年轻人合作，

750 from STEAM fields,

750位来自STEAM领域 ，

and over 750 grassroots makers and scrap dealers

超过750位是来自阿博布罗西和其他地区的

from Agbogbloshie and beyond.

草根创客和废品经销商。

They've joined hands together to develop a platform

他们携手一到开发了一个他们

which they call Spacecraft,

称为太空船的平台，

a hybrid physical and digital space for crafting,

一个混合物理和数字的工艺空间，

more of a process than a product,

更多是一个过程而非产品，

an open architecture for making,

一个制造的开放架构，

which involves three parts:

其中包括三个部分：

a makerspace kiosk, which is prefab and modular;

一个创客空间的小亭子， 它是预制和模块化的。

tool kits which can be customized based on what makers want to make;

可以根据创客想要制造的产品 定制的工具包，

and a trading app.

和一个交易的APP。

We built the app specifically with the needs of the scrap dealers

我们专门开发了这款应用， 以满足废品经销商的需求。

in mind first,

首先要清楚，

because we realized that it was not enough to arm them with information

因为我们知道光用信息和升级科技

and upgraded technology

武装他们是不够的。

if we wanted them to green their recycling processes;

如果想让他们绿色化回收流程，

they needed incentives.

他们需要动力。

Scrap dealers are always looking for new scrap and new buyers

废品经销商总在寻找新的废品和 新的买家

and what interests them is finding buyers who will pay more

让他们感兴趣的是找到愿意为清洁铜 而非燃烧的

for clean copper than for burnt.

支付更多钱的买家。

We realized that in the entire ecosystem,

我们意识到在整个生态系统中，

everyone was searching for something.

每个人都在寻找东西。

Makers are searching for materials, parts, components, tools, blueprints

创客在寻找材料、部件、组件、 工具、蓝图

to make what it is they want to make.

去制造他们想要制造的东西。

They're also finding a way to let customers and clientele

他们也在寻找方法让顾客和客户

find out that they can repair a blender

发现他们可以修理搅拌机

or fix an iron

或修理熨斗，

or, as we learned yesterday, to make a french fry machine.

或者，就像我们昨天了解的， 做一个炸薯条机器。

On the flip side, you find that there are end users

另一方面，你发现终端用户

that are desperately looking for someone that can make them a french fry machine,

在迫切寻找能够帮他们制作 炸薯条机器的人，

and you have scrap dealers who are looking how they can collect this scrap,

而废品经销商在寻找 如何收集这些废料，

process it, and turn it back into an input for new making.

处理它，并将它转换为 新制造的输入。

We tried to untangle that knot of not knowing

我们试图解开这个不知道的结，

to allow people to find what they need to make what they want to make.

让人们找到他们想要的东西， 去做他们想做的事。

We prototyped the makerspace kiosk in Agbogbloshie,

我们在阿博布罗西制作的 创客空间小亭子，

conceived as the opposite of a school:

作为学校的对立面：

a portal into experiential and experimental making

一个进入试验和实验制作的门户，

that connects local and global

用来连接本地和全球，

and connects making with remaking and unmaking.

并连接制造，再造和分解。

We made a rule that everything had to be made from scratch

我们立下了一条规矩 所有的东西都应用制造自

using only materials made in Ghana

加纳制造的废品材料

or sourced from the scrapyard.

或者废料场采购的材料。

The structures essentially are simple trusses which bolt together.

这些结构本质上 是简单的结合在一起的。

It takes about two hours to assemble one module with semi-skilled labor,

半熟练工人组装一个模块 大约需要两个小时，

and by developing tooling and jigs and rigs,

通过开发工具，夹具和钻机，

we were able to actually build these standardized parts

我们能够在这个手工焊接的 生态系统中

within this ecosystem of artisanal welders

建立这些标准化的部件，

with the precision of one millimeter --

精度可达1毫米。

of course, using made-in-Agbogbloshie welding machines,

当然， 使用阿博布罗西制造的焊接机，

as well as for the tools,

以及这些工具，

which can lock, the toolboxes, and stack to make workbenches,

这些工具盒都可以堆积固定 成为工作台，

and again, customized based on what you want to make.

再说一次，可以根据你想要的东西 进行定制。

We've tested the app in Agbogbloshie

我们在阿博布罗西测试这个APP

and are getting ready to open it up to other maker ecosystems.

并准确将其开放给 其他创客的生存体系。

In six months, we'll have finished three years of testing

在6个月中，我们完成对创客空间亭

the makerspace kiosk,

的三年测试，

which I have to admit, we've subjected to some pretty horrific abuse.

我们不得不承认， 我们受到了一些粗暴的对待。

But it's for a good cause,

但这有正当的理由，

because based on the results of that testing,

因为基于测试的结果，

we've been able to redesign an upgraded version of this makerspace.

我们已经能够重新设计 这个创客空间的升级版。

If a fab lab is large, expensive, and fixed in place,

如果一个工厂实验室又大，又贵， 又不易移动，

think of this as the counterpoint:

就可以把这想成其对立面：

something low-cost,

它是低成本的，

which can be locally manufactured,

可以本地制造，

which can be expanded and kitted out incrementally

可以扩展并随着创客的资源需求

as makers acquire resources.

逐渐增加。

You can think of it as a toolshed,

你可以把它想象成一个工具棚，

where makers can come and check out tools

创客可以来这里查找工具，

and take them via handcart

用手推车拿走它们，

to wherever they want in the city to make what it is they want to make.

到他们想去的地方， 做他们想做的东西。

And moving into the next phase, we're planning to also add

进入下一个阶段，我们还打算添加

ceiling-mounted CNC bots,

嵌入式的数控机器人，

which allow makers to cocreate together with robots.

可以让创客与机器人共同制造。

Ultimately, this is a kit of parts,

最终，这是一套

which can be assembled locally within the informal sector

可以在非正规部门内部组装的部件，

using standardized parts

使用可以通过开源过程

which can be upgraded collectively through an open-source process.

进行集体升级的标准化部件。

In totality, this entire makerspace system

总的来说，整个创客空间系统

tries to do five things:

试图做5件事情：

to enable emerging makers to gather the resources they need

让新兴创客能够收集到 所需要的资源

and the tools to make what they want to make;

和工具去制造他们想做的东西；

to learn by doing and from others;

通过亲自做和他人身上学习；

to produce more and better products;

去制造更多和更好的产品；

to be able to trade to generate steady income;

可以通过交易产生稳定的收入；

and ultimately, to amplify not only their reputation as a maker,

最终，不仅要扩大他们作为创客的 声誉，

but their maker potential.

还有他们的创客潜能。

Sankofa is one of the most powerful Adinkra symbols of the Akan peoples

桑科法是在加纳和科德维尔的阿卡人

in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire,

最强大的阿丁克拉族符号之一，

and it can be represented as a bird reaching onto its back to collect an egg,

它可以描绘成一只鸟 到它的背上去收集鸟蛋，

a symbol of power.

一种力量的符号。

It translates literally from the Twi as "return and get it,"

它从字面上翻译过来就是 "回来并得到它"

and what this means is that if an individual or a community or a society

这意味着假如一个人， 一个社区或一个社会

wants to have a successful future, they have to draw on the past.

想要在未来取得成功， 他们必须回到过去。

To acquire and master existing ways of doing,

去获取并掌握现存的做事方法，

access the knowledge of their ancestors.

获取他们祖先的知识。

And this is very relevant

这是非常相关的，

if we want to think about an inclusive future for Africa today.

如果我们想为今天的非洲 考虑一个包容性的未来。

We have to start from the ground up,

我们必须从头开始，

mining what already works for methods and for models,

挖掘已经适用的方法和模型，

and to think about how might we be able to connect,

并去想想我们如何去连接，

in a kind of "both-and," not "either-or" paradigm,

以一种“两者都”而非 “非此即彼”的范式，

the innovation capacity of this growing network

去连接这个不断增长的科技中心

of tech hubs and incubators across the continent

和孵化器网络的创新能力，

and to rethink beyond national boundaries and political boundaries,

并重新思考超越国界和政治界限的 问题，

to think about how we can network innovation in Africa

去思考我们如何在非洲建立 网络创新，

with the spirit of Sankofa

在桑科法精神

and the existing capacity of makers at the grassroots.

以及现存的草根阶层能力的指导下。

If, in the future, someone tells you

假若，将来，有人告诉你

Agbogbloshie is the largest e-waste dump in the world,

阿博布罗西是世界上最大的 电子垃圾场，

I hope you can correct them

我希望你能纠正他们，

and explain to them that a dump is a place where you throw things away

并向他们解释垃圾堆是 你把东西往哪一堆

就再也不管的地方；

and leave them forever;

a scrapyard is where you take things apart.

废料场是你把东西拆卸的地方。

Waste is something that no longer has any value,

废品是不再有任何价值的东西，

whereas scrap is something that you recover

而废料是你回收回来

specifically to use it to remake something new.

专门用来制造新东西的物品。

Making is a cycle,

制造是一个循环，

and African makerspaces are already pioneering and leading

非洲的创客空间已经在领先和引领

circular economy at the grassroots.

草根阶层的循环经济。

Let's make more and better together.

让我们一起做得越来越好。

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（鼓掌）