The second date of the November 2009 tour was in Helsinki, at the Open 2009 Symposium organized within the Media Lab Helsinki of the Aalto University School of Art and Design.
It was a great advance for me, as I was invited there as a keynote speaker for the second day!
Unfortunately I could stay in Helsinki for very little time (less than two days), and I was still a bit ill for the flu of the previous days, but people from Media Lab Helsinki were very nice and friendly. I really hope that we will collaborate in the future!

One of the most surprising things about the Open 2009 was that there were almost no hackers / coders there. It’s the first Open Everything event with no hackers I’ve ever seen! This is an interesting fact that shows how the Open culture or at least the interest for it is spreading and advancing in the society (or at least in the Finnish society!). This idea is supported by the fact that also during the afternoon panel (which I participated in) the discussion quickly shifted from the state of the art in supporting Open Systems to using Open Culture, Open Systems and Open Processes as a way to change and improve society.
About this issue, I think that we should proceed on two directions at the same time. On one side we should research how to develop proper Open Tools, Open Methodologies and Open Processes for enabling Open Systems that really works and fosters collaboration. On the other side, we should also study independently what changes and what initiatives we should take in a collaborative way in order to change and improve society (and all its related issues about social, economic and environmental sustainability). Tools and Strategies have the same importance and should be mixed wisely (too many times I see open source projects that seems to me almost useless or a waste of time in terms of social impact). Tools are important because they change the processes and the outcomes we get, and strategies are important in order to use the tools properly (this is my comment to the last tweets and the last part of the panel discussion when someone proposed to forget tools and to create a movement instead).
And note that Open Source proved to be useful and interesting not trying to change the whole society at once but by proceeding step by step with a strong focus on single projects and tools.

Here’s my presentation.

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01. Net-Map: a social network analysis toolbox

Net-Map is a visualization and facilitation tool developed by Eva Schiffer that can be very useful for design processes for/with Community/Locality Systems.

Net-Map is an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualize, discuss, and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes. By creating Influence Network Maps, individuals and groups can clarify their own view of a situation, foster discussion, and develop a strategic approach to their networking activities. More specifically, Net-Map helps players to determine

• what actors are involved in a given network,
• how they are linked,
• how influential they are, and
• what their goals are.

Determining linkages, levels of influence, and goals allows users to be more strategic about how they act in these complex situations. It helps users to answer questions such as: Do you need to strengthen the links to an influential potential supporter (high influence, same goals)? Do you have to be aware of an influential actor who doesn’t share your goals? Can increased networking help empower your dis-empowered beneficiaries?

Basically, Net-Map is low-tech tool for developing social network analysis within communities. It is a tool that: (more…)