David Haylock Creative Technologist
on Wed 18 Oct 2017Why we share and open source
Posted on Wed 18 Oct 2017
How and why we share and open source our technical processes.
At Watershed we actively encourage the sharing of knowledge and ways of working that could benefit others. Sharing helps promote a collaborative working culture across all departments within Watershed, this collaborative way of working enriches projects and makes them even more enjoyable to work on. However, this sharing is not limited to Watershed staff, we also share projects, code, and technical explorations online through numerous platforms.
One such platform is Github.
"What is Github?" you ask.
Simply put Github is a sharing platform where people (not just developers and programmers) store and share their creations.
As and when we create useful tools or code, we upload the project and instructions so that people can build and build upon.
For example, we created a Footfall system that is able to count the number of people entering and exiting a building for £60, using off the shelf components. This project has been copied 85 times, shared 150 times and informed some of the projects that have since come through Watershed and Pervasive Media Studio.
As well as sharing our code and creations, we document our approaches to technologies through Wired Watershed and Medium.
For example, we have published instructions on how to create a foyer screen systems using Raspberry Pis and Web Apps, what happens when you wire up a choir with pulse sensors and how we iterate our designs.
These spaces allow us to document, explore and explain specific issues or technologies that we have dealt with and how we worked with or around them.