Founders
Michel Bauwens, Digital Curator
I am 50 (born 21/3/58), married to a Thai national in Chiang Mai, with 2 children in Paris, and 2 children here in Thailand.
After a career as a reference librarian/analyst (USIA, 1981-1990), business information manager (BP Nutrition, 1990-93), editor-in-chief of the digital magazine Wave in Belgium (1993-1994), creator of two dotcoms, respectively active in the field of intranet/extranets (eCom, sold to Alcatel, 1995-96), and interactive marketing (KyberCo, sold to Virtuality, 1997-1998), European Manager of Thought Leadership (USWeb/CKS / MarchFIRST, 1997-98), and eBusiness Strategy Director for Belgacom (Belgium's largest telco, 1999-2002), I started to have serious doubts about the sustainability of the neoliberal model for the political economy. I decided to take a two-year sabbatical for reflection, and eventually moved to the magical city of Chiang Mai,Thailand, to start a new life, with a more balanced pace of life, amidst my Thai wife's extended family. I try to sustain myself through teaching (Payap University, CMU) and to devote time to explore the new social paradigm which I call peer to peer, and holds promise for political and social change. I created the Foundation for P2P Alternatives in order to find similarly minded people worldwide, hoping to contribute to the change that I am trying to analyse and understand.
Creative endeavours: I should mention that I also taught "The Anthropology of Digital Society" at St. Louis/ICHEC in Brussels, co-editing two French-language volumes with the same title; and co-created (scenario, research and interviews) a 3-hour TV documentary with film maker Frank Theys, entitled TechnoCalyps, the metaphysics of technology and the end of man, which will be relaunched in a new version (with which I did not collaborate much this time) in May 2006 in Belgium. In my home country Belgium I am somewhat known as an 'internet guru'; here in my new life, I am again a 'great unknown'.
Spiritually and intellectually, I have moved from a radical materialist position in my youth, to an intense investigation and experimentation with eastern and western psycho-technologies from my mid-twenties to my mid-thirties (a search for enlightement and transcendence), through self-study of the western philosophical tradition later in life. After a crisis of confidence in the existing system during 1997-1998, associated with exhaustion through overwork in my business environment, I decided to reflect more deeply and to attempt to integrate the ideals of my youth (engagement with the left), with the spiritual knowledge gathered during my spiritual search, and my knowledge/experience with the current social and intellectual trends, as well as my engagement in the worlds of business and technology. It gradually dawned on me that the commonality behind the changes we were witnessing, was the peer to peer form, which I set out to study and understand, to the best of my abilities, in dialogue with others.
Brice Le Blevennec
I am 39 (born 23/09/67), single with one child. I'm based in Brussels Belgium. In (very tiny) Belgium I'm known as a serial entrepreneur, techno geek and media guru. More about me on my blog, photoblog, wiki, linkblog, Emakina and ContactOffice. I define myself better by what I did until today...
- 1989-1990 Freelance infographist in agencies Paparazzi, Twogether, Groupe G,...
- 1991 founded Ex Machina S.P.R.L. Below-the-line studio.
- 1992 first interactive kiosks with touch screen and video in belgium (Swatch)
- 1993 first digital video TV-Show edited on a Mac broadcasted (Canal +, JAADTOLY)
- 1994 first belgian CD-ROM consumer title (Le Mystere Magritte), win several awards
- 1995 first ‘non-ISP’ websites online in belgium (SonyMusic, Dupuis, …)
- 1996 start producing and presenting the weekly radio-show CyberCafe for Radio 21
- 1997 CyberCafe become a tv-show about technologies on La Deux (R.T.B.F.)
- 1998 Split Ex Machina S.P.R.L. in 3 specialized companies. (Ex Machina Interactive Architects S.A., Web Agency ; Ex Machina Graphic Design S.P.R.L., below-the-line studio & Ex Nihilo S.A., holding)
- 1999 founded ContactOffice Group S.A., (web based groupware)
- 2000 founded Ex Machina Television S.P.R.L. (TV and Radio Production)
- 2001 Merge Ex Machina Interactive Architects S.A. with Emalaya S.A. to form Emakina S.A.
- 2002 founded Ex Tempore S.P.R.L.
- 2002 launched ContactOffice France
- 2003 launched Emakina France
- 2003 launched ContactOffice Netherlands
- 2004 start producing and presenting the weekly radio show "Single" broadcasted on PureFM.
- 2005 Emakina acquire B. On The Net S.P.R.L. (rendez-vous.be, immoweb.be, ...)
- 2006 Emakina listed on Alternext (ALEMK)
- 2007 Emakina acquire Design is Dead S.P.R.L. (Antwerpen)
- 2007 acquisition of Convergences S.A.
- 2007 founded Tunz S.A., a P2P mobile payment system
Today Emakina is the first Web Agency in Belgium and listed on Alternext (ALEMK). My goal : open more countries and get to European level. ContactOffice is leader in the education market. My goal: grab the global leadership in online groupware.
James Burke
James Burke (1971)
I live in Amsterdam, where i run the P2P Foundation together with Michel Bauwens. My role is managing the technology side of the present platform of blogs and wiki while doing the odd bit of writing and editing. I am the official secretary and sort of CTO.
The P2P Foundation is a legal entity registered in the Netherlands under Dutch Law. It is comprised of 5 core members although we rotate annually(actually this has never happened due to not having had any decision-making moments beyond accepting a blog post comment or managing a few unruly users, therefore switching these official roles had no meaning and would cost money and time. When and if this becomes a necessary action, for whatever reason, then we will gladly switch roles and responsibilities). Currently this consists of Michel in Thailand and myself in the Netherlands plus Natalie Pang - in Australia, Salvino Salvaggio - in Quatar and Sam Rose - in the USA comprising our board team.
Work
I am a freelance information architect/experience designer under the moniker,Lifesized working for startups (NARB is actually my own startup, focusing on art]and design agencies. I have also recently been working in the government sector as a strategist and leader in pushing for open architectures and data to improve public services and political transparency guidelines on how to open up government data - site in Dutch. I'm keeping the Netherlands honest in organizing events bringing geeks and civil servants together, Hack the government - site in Dutch).
Before this i founded the Roomware Project with Tijs Teulings and Robert Gaal. We have developed a way to make a room or space more interactive. It's an open-source framework for interactive spaces. It connects a bunch of inputs: from motion detectors and light switches, Bluetooth, RFID, WIFI and produces a simple output that any developer can use to build an application from.
My background
I studied a BA in Archaeology and International Relations at Boston University(incomplete), USA.
Worked as a professional baker and as a chef in restaurants for 6 years including 2 years in the Supperclub
5 years working as a flash animator and coder for design agencies.
Awards
Spin Awards 2008 for Best Mobile Concept - for Hyves Party.
Yu-Gi-Oh! GXGroove Room - Time magazine coolest sites 2006!
Contact
W: www.lifesized.net E: lifesizedATgmail.com Flickr : My Lifestream in Photos