Success stories from Kenya's first makerspace | Kamau Gachigi

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Phoebe Ling Zhang

By the year 2050, the population of Africa will have doubled.

到 2050 年，非洲人口将翻倍。

One in four people on Earth will be African at that point,

届时全球将有 1/4 的人口在非洲，

and this is both really exciting and daunting all at once.

这真是让人激动又令人畏惧。

It's really exciting because, for the first time in the modern era,

让人激动的原因是，这是现代史上

there will be enough Africans on the Earth to bully everybody else.

首次，非洲人民可以以大欺小 了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I'm only kidding.

我开个玩笑而已。

But it's daunting, because we're going to have to have economies

让人畏惧是因为我们得有 庞大的经济体

that can sustain this population growth,

去维持这种人口增长，

这其中相当一部分人还是年轻人。

and many of the people are going to be very young.

Now most of governments in Africa have a plan for this economic growth --

多数非洲的政府都有经济增长计划——

in Kenya, we call ours Vision2030 --

在肯尼亚，我们的计划叫 远见2030（Vision 2030）——

and they're all predicated on industrialization.

它们都建立在工业化的基础上。

The thing is, though, that the world

问题是，

世界正在经历第四次工业革命，

is going through the Fourth Industrial Revolution right now,

which means that there's a merger

这次工业革命融合了

of the physical, cyber, and biological worlds.

实体经济，数字经济和生物科技。

It means that because of massive interconnectivity

由于大量的互联性

and the availability of artificial intelligence and robotics,

以及随处可见的 人工智能和机器人，

many of the jobs that we know and are used to right now

我们今天所熟悉的很多工作

won't exist in the future.

将不复存在。

So the challenge is a lot greater, in many ways,

所以从很多方面来讲，这个挑战

than it even was when Asia was industrializing, for example.

都要比亚洲工业化时还要大。

To add to this, one of the kinds of person that you need

我来解释一下，工业化需要

for industrialization is an engineer,

工程师人才，

and they're really in short supply on the continent.

而他们当时非常 缺少工程师人才。

If you compare, for example, the number of engineers

如果对比下几十年前

that those same Asian countries had

那些亚洲国家

a couple of decades ago when they were industrializing,

工业化时的工程师数量，

we fall far short.

我们更是远远落后的。

And I've taught for a while,

我教书已经有一段时间了，

and many of the students who are studying engineering

大部分学习工科专业的学生

end up actually working in auditing firms and banks,

最后却去了审计公司和银行上班，

and many of them spend half their time doing accounting and so on

其中大部分人有过半 的时间在按计划

as they're preparing.

做会计之类的活儿。

Now, I was fortunate enough to do my undergrad and postgrad education

我很幸运能在美国和英国 接受本科和研究生教育。

in the UK and the US, in countries, environments,

在这些国家，

where there was all the equipment that you required,

拥有你所需要的全部设备，

足够先进的系统。

all the sophistication in the systems,

and then I worked for about three years in Japan

之后我到日本工作了三年，

doing R&D for a large firm.

在一家大公司做研发。

And so I was very used to having good equipment,

所以我曾习惯于拥有 良好的设备环境，

and went back home

而当我回国

and joined the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nairobi,

加入内罗毕大学工程学院，

想为非洲贡献一份力量之时，

wanting to contribute and be on the continent.

And I quickly found I was really quite useless,

我很快发现自己的能力 毫无用武之地，

because there wasn't all the equipment that I had become accustomed to available.

因为我所熟悉的 所有设备这里都没有。

And I was teaching students who I would find very bright ideas in their minds

我的学生们非常聪明，

and they'd be presenting things that I knew

假若我们拥有充足的装备，

if only we had sufficient equipment,

他们一定可以

they'd be able to really contribute to the challenge of industrialization.

做出点东西，迎接工业化挑战。

So I kind of had to change hats, and became quite entrepreneurial

所以我得改变套路， 像企业家那样去做，

and started looking for money to buy the equipment that we required.

开始募集资金 来购买我们想要的设备。

And I heard about a concept out of MIT, called the Fab Labs.

我听到了一个来自 MIT 的概念， 叫创造实验室（Fab Labs）。

These are digital fabrication labs

这些数字创造实验室

that allow, in a rather small space with not very expensive equipment,

只占用很小的空间， 没有很贵的设备，

people to have access to these tools

人们可以使用这些工具，

to be able to make almost anything,

制造几乎任何东西，

as the slogan goes.

就像标语说的那样。

And so I was able to convince a government official

所以我说服政府官员

to buy one of these for the university where I was teaching.

为我任教的大学购买了 这样一套实验室。

And immediately, we had wonderful results.

马上，我们就取得了惊人的成绩。

We saw all kinds of innovations coming through,

我们看到各种各样的创新涌现出来。

and for the first time in this context at the university,

首次在大学这个场所，

engineering students from different disciplines

来自不同学科的工科学生

were doing the lab and practical exercises together in the same space.

在同一空间做实验和实践。

Normally, they'd be siloed.

而一般情况下 他们是彼此隔离的。

And not just that, but students who weren't engineers at all

不仅如此，连非工科学生

were also working in the same place,

也参与了进来，

and non-students, people who had nothing to do with the university,

甚至不在大学里学习和工作的人

were also coming into this space.

也来到这个空间。

So you had this rich mix of people,

于是就有了形形色色的人，

people who think differently from one another,

大家有不同的想法，

and this always is really good for innovation.

而这总是非常有利于创新。

I was really proud of what we were seeing.

我真为我所看到的感到骄傲。

So you can imagine my surprise

所以当有一天，

when one day the dean of engineering came and said to me,

工程学院的院长跟我说， “Kamau，那些整天沉迷在

"Kamau, the students who spend most of the time in the Fab Lab

创造实验室的学生 考试都要不及格了。”

are failing their exams."

你可以想象得到我有多惊讶。

I said, "What do you mean?"

我说：“什么意思？”

And I looked into it, and he was right,

我仔细研究了一番，果然如此。

and the reason they were failing

他们考试不及格的原因

is that they'd honed their skills so well in certain things

是因为他们拥有专业技能，

that they were going out into the city and offering services for money.

所以跑城里去做兼职。

So they were making money --

他们在赚钱——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

and they therefore weren't focusing on their studies.

于是他们就不怎么学习。

And I thought, what a good problem to have.

我想，有这问题也蛮好。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Don't quote me on that. I'm an academician.

别引用我的这句话，我是教师。

So we needed to scale this,

所以我们得扩大规模，

and at the university, things were a bit too bureaucratic,

大学里面事情总是有点官僚，

and so I moved out and I hooked up with people who, in Nairobi,

所以我搬了出来， 与内罗毕的一些

were providing spaces for IT experts

为 IT 专业人士 提供空间的人打成一片，

to share fast internet and things like that.

分享高速网络等服务。

And some of these places are really quite famous.

而其中有些地方还非常出名，

They've made Kenya famous for IT.

它们令肯尼亚因 IT 而知名。

And together we set up a space which we are setting up right now.

我们一起设立了现在正在设立的空间，

We've moved from where we were.

搬离了开始的地方，

We are in a much larger space,

到了一个更大的空间里面。

and we're sort of making available a wide range of equipment,

我们拥有了种类繁多的设备，

including the digital fabrication tools that I mentioned,

包括前面提到过的数字制造工具

and analog tools,

和模拟工具，

to anybody really, on a membership basis.

以会员的形式提供给任何一个人。

It's a bit like a gym, so you come in, you pay,

这有点像健身房，你即用即付，

you get taught how to use the equipment,

有人教你如何使用这些设备，

and then you're set free to innovate and do whatever it is that you want,

然后你就可以自由创新， 做任何你想做的事情，

and you don't have to be an engineer, necessarily.

你不需要是个工程师。

And some of the people in the space are setting up a small company.

这个空间里的有些人 开始创建小公司，

They just need a space at a desk,

他们只需要桌面上的一点儿空间，

and so we provide that at a fee,

所以我们以一定的 费用提供这些空间；

and others take up bigger spaces and are able to set up their offices.

有些人需要占用更大的空间， 想要设立自己的办公室。

They're further along.

他们更进一步，

Maybe their company has been running for a certain period of time.

也许他们的公司 已经运行一段时间了。

And so we're able to accommodate all of this

我们能够在一个非常活跃

in an innovation space that is really quite active.

的创新空间中容纳所有这些需求。

What you're seeing in this image over here is Douglas,

这张照片里的人是道格拉斯，

and Douglas is an electrical engineer,

道格拉斯是个电气工程师，

one of the people who was really active in the Fab Lab.

一个在创作空间非常活跃的人。

我确信他通过了考试。

I'm pretty sure he passed his exams.

And the image on the top left is a copper sheet.

左上那个照片是一块薄铜板。

And he designed a circuit that the client came to him and said,

他设计了一个电路， 客户直接过来跟他说，

"I need this circuit for a pay-as-you-go system."

“我需要这种电路 来做即付即用的系统。”

And so this is a model for business

所以这是一个商业模式构想，

that's made accessibility to goods and services for very poor people

用一种更便利的方式 把产品和服务带给贫穷的人，

really much easier, because they're able to pay a little bit,

因为他们只能支付一点点钱，

like a dollar a day, for example,

如一天一美元，

for a specific service.

来得到特定的服务。

And so this company wanted to pilot a new idea that they had,

这家公司想要对 一个新构思进行试点，

and so they just needed 50 circuits,

他们只需要 50 个电路板，

so they hired him to make them,

于是他们雇佣他去制作。

and what you're seeing him doing there is,

他的工作就是

he's able to design on the computer what the circuit will be

在电脑上设计电路板的样子，

and then transfer it to an etching process --

然后进行蚀刻——

that's the image on the top right --

就如右上的图片所示——

and then populate the board using this robot.

再使用这个机器人 对电路板进行填充。

And so what would normally take him maybe a day or something to solder by hand,

如果用人工焊接， 可能得花费一天的时间，

he can do in a few minutes using this machine.

使用这台机器则只需要几分钟。

So he was able to complete the entire order within Gearbox,

他可以使用这个工具 完成整个订单。

and this is really important,

这非常重要，

because if it wasn't for what we provided right now,

因为如果没有我们提供的设备，

he would have had to have hired a company in China to do this,

他将不得不找中国公司代工，

and because it's such a small order, it would have taken a long time.

而因为这只是一个小订单， 得花上很长的时间。

It would be a small company,

他还只能找小公司，

because big companies wouldn't take small orders,

因为大公司往往不接这种小单，

and even then, if they got a bigger order,

即使接了，如果他们后续 又接了更大的单子，

they'd bump him off in favor of that.

他们就会放弃他的单子。

And there's language problems and so on,

此外，还有诸如语言等问题，

so being able to do it in country is really very important,

所以能够在本国 解决这个问题真是非常重要。

and of course piloting as a phase within the progress of the business idea

小规模试验是将商业构思 付诸实践过程中非常重要的环节，

is extremely important, because you can go back and make corrections and so on.

因为在这个过程中，你可以 不断反复修正你的想法。

In this image -- Thank you.

在这张照片上——谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

In this image you see on the top left,

左上方照片中的

是数字制造机的 3D 渲染图。

what you're looking at is a 3D render of a digital fabrication machine.

In this instance, it doubles as a plasma cutter

在这种情况下， 它兼具等离子切割机

and also a wood router.

和刨木机的功能。

And so the plasma cutter makes possible the cutting of plate and sheet metal,

等离子切割机使得 切割金属板材成为了可能，

and basically, you make a design on the computer

你只需要在电脑上完成设计，

and send it over to the machine,

把它发送给机器，

即可快速精确地 得到你要的形状。

and then quickly and precisely, it will cut the shapes you want.

但你也可以

But in this machine,

you can also change the plasma cutter and put on a spindle,

换下等离子切割机，换上转轴，

and then you can carve wood as well.

就可以雕刻木头了。

So this was designed by my Head of Engineering.

这个机器由我们的工程主管设计，

His name is Wachira,

他的名字叫瓦奇拉。

and when I hired him about two years ago,

我两年前雇佣了他，

I asked him, "Just give me two years,

当时我问他：“给我两年时间，

and by the time you've trained a lot of people

届时你培养了足够多的人，

so that we have good staff under you,

就有了一个优秀的团队，

then you can move out and become a good story for us."

然后你就可以离开， 成为我们的传奇。”

And that's exactly what's just happened.

这是实实在在发生的事。

He's got two types of customers.

他有两种类型的顾客。

The higher-tier customer

高端顾客

is a company that's actually using his machine

是使用这个机器

to cut sheet metal for Isuzu truck fabrication in Nairobi,

为内罗毕的五十铃卡车 制造商切割金属的公司，

which is being done by General Motors.

承接这项工作的是通用汽车。

So we're really proud to be able to say

所以我们真是非常骄傲地说，

that we have an original equipment manufacturer in Nairobi

我们是内罗毕的原始设备制造商，

that's provided what's effectively an industrial robot

为行业提供了高效率的工业机器人，

to supply parts for General Motors.

为通用汽车供应部件。

Now this is really important --

这真的非常重要——

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

and it's really important because the population growth being what it is,

这真的非常重要， 因为人口增长很快，

a lot of very large companies are looking very closely

很多大公司正在密切观察

at the market that's developing in Africa.

非洲这个发展中的市场。

So in Kenya right now, we have Volkswagen, Peugeot, Renault,

所以在肯尼亚，我们有 大众、标致、雷诺，

we have Mercedes doing lorries,

有奔驰生产卡车，

and we've also got Toyota, they've been there a long time.

还有丰田，他们在那儿有一阵子了。

And these are all manufacturers planning to assemble vehicles

所有这些制造商都在计划组装汽车，

and in the future, to manufacture in the country.

未来，他们还打算 在全国范围内进行生产。

很多公司计划培训 他们雇佣的员工，

Many of them are planning to train lots of people that they'd hire,

这对于经济非常重要，

and that's really important for the economy,

但是当这些公司

but when the magic really happens,

when these companies begin to buy their parts for the vehicles

开始从当地公司购买汽车零部件时，

from local companies,

神奇的事情就发生了。

so supply chain development is something that's very important

供应链的发展至关重要，

for us to be able to pivot and to have very productive economies,

让我们能够驱动和拥有 非常有活力的经济，

and that's something we're focused on at our space.

这就是我们空间关注的领域。

This other image shows another class of customer that he has.

另一张照片展示了他的另一类客户。

On the top left,

在左上角的图中，

you have these people who are actually using very crude tools

这些人在使用非常粗糙的工具

to work metal and wood.

来加工金属和木头。

And Kenya has a population of about 44 million people.

肯尼亚有 4400 万人口。

The work force is about 13 million,

劳动人口有 1300 多万，

and about 80 to 90 percent of those are in the informal sector.

其中 80-90% 在非正式的工厂工作。

And what you're seeing in the image at the top left over there

左上角的照片

就是非常典型的半熟练工匠，

is very typical of semi-skilled artisans

who are making products for the marketplace

他们正在为市场制作

that are really crude.

非常粗糙的产品。

Their production rate is very slow.

他们的生产率很低，

The quality of the product isn't high.

产品质量也不高。

And so we've teamed Wachira up with a bank,

所以我们将瓦奇拉和 一家银行进行了联合，

and the bank is paying him to train people from this sector

他对部门员工进行工业机器人培训

on how to use this industrial robot.

的费用由银行支付。

And the result is that some of them

结果是，其中有些人可以从银行

are going to be able to get loans to buy the machine for themselves.

获得贷款购买他们自己的机器。

Others will be able to go to centers where they can carry their material,

另外一些人则可以 带着他们的材料来到中心

get the design done,

完成设计，

and take the materials back that have been made really, really fast

带着做出的又快又好的部件离开，

and assemble them in their own spaces.

回到他们自己的地方安装。

So somebody making a gate, for example, out of metal,

例如，有人要使用 金属制造一扇门，

may take a week to make just one gate,

可能需要一周的时间 才能做出一扇门，

but with this machine, they might make 10 in a day.

但使用这台机器 一天可以做 10 扇。

So the productivity of a large swathe of our population

所以得益于此工具，

should be able to jump by a quantum amount, quite significantly,

我们一大群人的生产率，应该能

because of this kind of machine.

以指数级的速度显著增长。

And that's what we're at the beginning of, so this is really very exciting.

刚开始就有这样的成效， 让我们感到非常兴奋。

This is another person who uses our space.

这是另外一个使用我们空间的人。

Her name is Esther.

她名叫埃斯特，

She's in her mid-20s,

25 岁左右，

and she came in very passionate about a problem that she explained.

她热切地带着一个问题而来。

She said that schools days are missed every month by young girls

她说年轻女孩们每个月 都会因为生理周期

because of their menstrual cycle,

缺席几天的课，

and they're not able to buy a sanitary towel.

她们买不到卫生巾。

And the reason that she described

她所描述的原因是，

was that the manufacturers packaged these in bundles of seven to 10,

制造商一般把 7-10 片 卫生巾包装成一包，

and breaking it down is unhygienic at the retail level,

在零售环节一片一片 拆开卖很不卫生，

and packaging each one of them is too expensive.

而每片都单独包装成本太高。

So she thought up an idea, which is brilliant, and simple.

所以她想出了一个 聪明又简单的好主意。

Why don't we just use vending machines?

我们为什么不使用自动售货机呢？

And she, in a very clean environment, can break down the bundles

她可以在干净的环境中拆开包装，

and fill up the vending machines,

填满自动售货机，

and then girls can buy these sanitary towels

这些女孩们就可以 在公众场所和学校的卫生间

in the privacy of a toilet, in a public space, in a school, and so on.

这样私密的场所购买这些卫生巾。

She was able to pilot this and it worked really very well,

她对此进行了试点，效果非常好，

and she's been able to sort of get the bugs out and so on.

她已经排除了不少问题。

So the significance here is that the piloting process is possible.

重点在于，她可以进行试点。

She's not an engineer.

她并不是工程师，

She was able to engage people in our space to be able to help her to do this,

但可以说服我们空间的人帮助她，

她已经跟一家 企业加速器建立了合作，

and she's off and running now with a business accelerator,

我们可以期待在未来 取得非常好的效果。

so we expect to see great results.

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

In this image you're looking at --

这张照片上展示的是

the result of a master's project that was done at University of Nairobi

内罗毕大学工程系学生托尼·尼亚加

by Tony Nyagah, an engineering student,

的硕士项目成果。

and he just integrated a solar cell into a roof tile

他把太阳能电池集成到屋瓦上

and decided to make it a business.

并打算将此商业化。

He joined up with his sister who is an architect,

他与他的建筑师姐姐合作

and they have this business,

开始了这项业务，

and they present the roof tile to a person who is doing development and say,

他们正在向某开发者 推销这个屋瓦，说，

"You can buy it for the cost of just the roof tile without the solar."

“你可以用买普通屋瓦的钱 来买这种太阳能屋瓦。”

So they're giving it at a discount,

他们在打折销售，

and then they'll build them using the internet of things over time,

在未来，他们会用 物联网的方式进行生产，

they'll pay about a third of the utility charges for the electricity

只需要付 1/3 的电费，

and they can sell the excess back to the grid.

还可以把剩余的电 卖回给电网供应商。

And so they'll make their money over time,

他们会慢慢开始盈利，

and they've been able to do quite a few installments.

目前已经为一些客户进行了安装。

We were very proud to be able to show this to somebody kind of famous,

我们非常自豪能够将 这项技术展示给知名人士，

as you can see there,

正如照片里所展示的。

and this other famous guy actually presented the same idea,

另一位知名人士 也提出了同样的想法，

but as far as we're concerned, if it was after us, so --

但据我所知， 他们行动得比我们晚——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So in closing, going forward, of course being able to prototype

很显然，能够在这种环境下

and do low manufacturing in this kind of a setting

进行低成本的制造，

is very important for the industrialization process,

对于工业化过程是非常重要的。

but we're also taking advantage of a lot of new ways of doing things:

但我们也在利用多种新方法做事情：

the open source movement,

开源运动，

分布式制造，循环生产。

distributive manufacturing, circular production.

So it's all very important for not just industrializing

这不但对工业化以及 满足人们的需求来说

and being able to meet people's needs,

非常重要，

but also making sure that the environment is taken care of.

而且能够确保环境得到保护。

We're also really interested in culture.

我们同时也非常关注文化。

We have lots of discussions in our space around who we were as Africans,

我们在空间中经常讨论 作为非洲人意味着什么

我们今天是谁， 未来想成为什么样的人，

who we are today, and who we want to be

vis-à-vis things like consumerism and ethnicity and corruption and so on.

以及消费主义，种族和腐败等问题。

So we see ourselves as providing, adding value to people

所以我们把自己的角色视为 为人们提供和增加价值，

by teaching them to add value to things or materials

通过指导他们给物体或材料增加价值

so that they can build things that matter.

来创建重要的东西。

Thank you very much for your attention.

谢谢大家的聆听。

（鼓掌）

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)