Palomar5

In Berlin’s Malzfabrik, two dozen digital natives from all over the globe have been creating tomorrow’s world of work. Palomar5, an innovation camp named after a star cluster, has brought together Internet fans to think about the world of work in the future.

But having the 19 to 30-year-olds from North America, Mexico, India, Australia, Russia and Western Europe simply develop a few new gadgets that will quickly find their way onto store shelves was not part of the plan. Rather, Palomar5 was designed to unite young and enthusiastic Web natives to launch their own projects, search for solutions, develop prototypes and present their work to the public. It is up to the Palomar5 residents to decide what they work on and how they organize themselves. The initiators, supported by main sponsor Deutsche Telekom, provide one thing: the freedom for participants to do what they want in the dedicated 2,000-square-meter, two-story space. Including debating whether dishes should be rinsed before they are put in the dishwasher or not…

Kosta Grammatis was one of the participants. The 24-year-old American describes his vision: “We aim to provide the five billion people in the world who are still offline with free Internet access”. He heads up an initiative called Samara Network that believes access to information is a human right. And the team has set itself very high goals: using over 16 satellites, Kosta and his colleagues want to provide 256kbps-speed Internet connections to far-flung regions of the world. “We want Africa to finally enter the 21st century,” he explains. But is it just pie in the sky? An unattainable goal? Kosta smiles. “It will take less than five years. You’ll see. We are already talking to multinational organizations and the first test satellite was successfully launched on July 11.” The project now has its own Website: www.ahumanright.org.

Read more about Palomar5 in the print edition of Best Practice.