Every continent except Antarctica has a Fab Lab. As of today, the total number of Fab Labs worldwide has reached 1,186!
In 2001, the “Fab Lab” concept developed out of a popular class at MIT named “How To Make (Almost) Anything.” The first fab lab to be set up outside MIT was Vigyan Ashram in India in 2002. India now has 43 Fab Labs!
The United States counts the most number of Fab Labs: 160. It’s closely followed by France with 154, and Italy at 134. This year’s Fab13 host Chile has 8 Fab Labs.
With Fab Labs, an under-served community can be powered by technology at the grassroots level. One example is in Afghanistan. In January 2009, the Jalalabad FabLab wanted to bring high-speed internet to a village, a hospital, a university, and an NGO in the city – it did so with FabFi. Free community FabFi wireless networks are also established in Kenya and the United States.
Fab Foundation sums it up: “To be a Fab Lab means connecting to a global community of learners, educators, technologists, researchers, makers and innovators.”
Fab Lab Connect supports the growth of the Fab Lab Network by building, accelerating and connecting Fab Labs. Working with grassroots organizations, unmet needs emerge for more compact and less expensive labs.
Take a look at the current Fab Labs List and Map.
(Updated for October publish date)
