24 November, 2015

Decentralized technologies to reduce causes of mass migrations



People migrate to other countries when they do not have hope of prosperity in their home countries. Prosperity can be increased quickly through implementation of low cost decentralized technologies, many of which have been developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Finnish companies. Examples include: text-based banking; local renewable energy from solar, wind; Web-based education platforms; and mobile factories that enable production anywhere.
Decentralized technologies can enable local production by local people using local materials to be set up quickly and cheaply. For example, moveable factories can be fabricated and delivered in a few months. They can be used for a wide range of production from agricultural processing to assembly of consumer goods. Using established industrial engineering techniques, world class production can be set-up quickly with workforces that do not already have necessary production skills. In addition to local production, decentralized technologies can facilitate more highly distributed innovation and entrepreneurship.
Together with Finnish companies, and organizations such as the Finland-Somalia Association, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has carried out research and innovation in decentralized technologies.
The relatively small size and versatile mobility of decentralized technologies means that they can be used wherever people are, including at home countries and at temporary settlements. Hence, decentralized technologies can be used immediately to reduce the causes of mass migration.
Background materials:
How these technologies can be used to address mass migration has recently been reported in publications including the following:
Third Wave DIY: Potential for prosumption, innovation, and entrepreneurship by local populations in regions without industrial manufacturing infrastructure
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X14000396
Moveable factories: How to enable sustainable widespread manufacturing by local people in regions without manufacturing skills and infrastructure
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X15000317
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