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Cities and the Maker Movement
Thomas Kalil
Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy &
National Economic Council
tkalil@ostp.eop.gov

Overview
• The White House will hold the first ever White House Maker Faire
(date TBD, likely mid-June).
• The Obama Administration believes that the Maker Movement has
the potential to advance several national goals, including STEM
education/workforce development, and entrepreneurship/job
creation.
• Many cities are already playing an important role, the White House is
interested in highlighting new/expanded commitments and a “sign
on” letter.
• Contact us at maker@ostp.gov if you’d like to get involved.

President Obama on the White House
Maker Faire
“We cannot wait to see more of that innovative spirit later this year
when we host our first ever White House Maker Faire. We already
have a White House Science Fair. This new event is going to
highlight how Americans young and old -— tinkerers and inventors
—- are imagining and designing and building tools and machines
that will open our minds and power our economy.”
(remarks at the White House Student Film Festival, Feb. 28, 2014)

Congressional Maker Caucus
• A bipartisan group of legislators aimed at promoting American
manufacturing and entrepreneurship by giving congressional support
to new technologies that revolutionize manufacturing and help
eliminate barriers to entrepreneurship.
• Co-founded by Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Mark
Takano (D-Calif.) and Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.).
“Technologies like desktop 3D printers, CNC machines and consumer-
grade laser cutting machines can help forge new product lines and
create opportunities in niche manufacturing markets.”
-Congressional Maker Caucus

What’s New
Individuals self-identifying as Makers, participating in
grassroots/community activities like Maker Faires

What’s New
Democratization of tools needed to design and make just about
anything (declining cost/ease of use)

What’s New
Shared access to non-profit and commercial makerspaces, Fab Labs,
TechShops, etc.

What’s New
Embrace of Making by many institutions (e.g. large companies,
government agencies, mayors, labor unions, universities, libraries,
museums, schools, manufacturing/hardware accelerators, non-profits)

What’s New
Use of Internet to share blueprints and instructions, create
communities like DIY Drones

What’s New
Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, equity-based
crowdfunding enabled by JOBS Act

What’s New
Leverages other business concepts like Open Innovation, Lean Startup,
Rise of the Rest (innovation hubs outside of Silicon Valley and
Cambridge, MA)

What’s New
Factories/Models for Makers to scale-up in US (e.g. Factorli in Las
Vegas, SFMade in San Francisco)

Why is the Maker Movement Important?
• Promotes values and dispositions that are worthwhile in their own
right, such as self-efficacy, collaboration, tinkering, curiosity, and
imagination.
• Inspires more young boys and girls to excel in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects.
• Upgrades the skills of our workforce so that America can compete in
what some are calling the “Third Industrial Revolution” – digital
manufacturing.
• Encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation in
manufacturing by lowering the cost of designing and manufacturing
new products.

What Are Cities Doing?
Celebrating the ingenuity and creativity of local Makers by hosting Mini
Maker Faires

Helping to identify locations within the community where makerspaces
can be established to broaden access to tools need for design,
prototyping and manufacturing

Convening summits with key stakeholders that serve as catalysts for
public and private commitments that will strengthen the local Maker
“ecosystem”

Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation related to Making and
advanced manufacturing by supporting accelerators,
design/production districts, changes in zoning policy, and worker
training for 21st century manufacturing

Supporting initiatives that engage women and under-served
communities in Making

Participating in efforts to identify and share “promising practices” so
that we can all learn from local experimentation

Encouraging schools to integrate making into their STEM curriculum
in unique ways

Possible Next Steps:
• Increase number of communities with vibrant Maker ecosystems to at
least 100, consider signing letter on Making as a first step.
• Roles for Mayors/cities:
–Celebrate Makers by participating in Maker Faires
–Find space for makerspaces, TechShops, FabLabs
–Convene local/regional summits that serve at catalysts for commitments
–Encourage entrepreneurship/job creation by supporting
innovation/production districts, changes in zoning policy, workforce
development
–Support initiatives that engage women and under-represented minorities
in Making

Possible Next Steps:
• Consider creating coalition to increase the number of organizations
involved in Making at national and regional/local level,
document/share promising practices.
• Scale-up programs like Maker Education Initiative to reach hundreds
of thousands of students/year
• Your idea here
• Contact us at maker@ostp.gov to get involved.

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Cities and the Maker Movement

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