Sputnik Foundation

We bring technologies and opportunities for self-education for those who will bring changes to this World

Introduction

We are in a transition period from an Industrial Paradigm to a Digital Paradigm.
We see how material values give way to digital values.
High-technologies and the digital economy open up unprecedented opportunities before us.
But not everyone has access to high-technology and the skills to use it, which means that not everyone has access to unprecedented opportunities.
Evolution of technologies goes much faster than the Industrial World adapts to it.
Leading developers and creators of digital corporations received their knowledge not in schools or universities, but in the process of self-education, sitting in front of the computer connected to the Internet.
As practice shows, in order to acquire modern skills, it's enough for a person to have a computer, Internet access and a psychologically healthy atmosphere that will facilitate the acquisition of new skills.
If we want to see positive changes in our World, we must take care of the World Changers.
We've received great experience in the process of self-education and have achieved technological and economical successes.
We understand how to achieve success, and now we want to share this method with those who haven't access to modern technologies, and therefore haven't skills that are necessary for success in a new digital society.
Therefore, we created the Sputnik Foundation, which will help prepare the environment for self-education and open up opportunities for those who will change this World for the better!

The Problem:

1. Many people don't have knowledge and experience in programming, design and digital economics.
2. All information and educational materials are available on the Internet, but many people don't have access to the Internet, computers, and also don't have a healthy psychological environment for self-education.
3. Without access to modern technologies and a knowledge base of humanity, people are forced to engage in hard physical labor, which prevents them from revealing their real potential. This is an obstacle not only for specific people, but for all humanity, since we never know who exactly will make a huge contribution to the development of all mankind, and will find a solution to the problems that still face us.

The Solution:

1. Create a space with computers, Internet access and a healthy psychological environment.
2. Provide free access to space for those people who want to educate themselves and be active participants in changing the world for the better.
3. Maintain gender balance among World Changers (50% female, 50% male)
4. Incentivize successful self-education.
5. Explain how to find a job yourself.
6. To assist those who have achieved success in self-education, to participate in projects.

The Expected Results:

1. Integration of people into the field of high technologies.
2. The discovery of the real potential of people, and the search for people who can contribute to the development of all mankind.
3. Training of specialists for participation in the digital economy.
4. Turning people to help others to acquire high-tech skills.
5. Researching the process of self-education and creating a methodology for self-education that can be used by people around the world.

The Action Plan:

1. Rent and prepare a place for self-education. The room should be spacious for a minimum ten people and have an electricity and internet connection. With access to water and food for people in the process of self-learning.
2. Purchase tables, chairs and computers for at least ten people, and place them in a space for self-education, preferably in a circle, but not linear (from the first rows to the last).
3. Gather the first group of at least 10 people who want to engage in self-education. The recruitment should be based on a written essay, in which those, who are wishing to access the space, should describe their motivation, and also answer the question of why they should get free access to the space, not somebody else. Also, the recruitment of the first group should proceed from the desire to achieve gender balance (50% of the group should be feminine and 50% masculine). In case that there are many more interested persons than the space can accommodate, conduct an additional interview. Preference is given to those who have basic knowledge of English and mathematics.
4. Give the group complete freedom to educate themselves, but at the same time hold online meetings with developers and enthusiasts from various digital projects that have already achieved success, 2-4 times in a month. These meetings will be recorded, and educational materials will be created from them, which will be posted on the Internet for public access. The Sputnik Foundation is responsible for finding developers and enthusiasts, as well as for preparing and posting educational materials.
5. About once every two weeks, give tasks to the group and reward those who have completed tasks. If, after three tasks, there are people in the group who didn't cope with any of the tasks, then conduct a second interview with these people, in which to find out their motivation, as well as what they spent time on. If the respondents have strong motivation and have received useful skills and knowledge, then they remain in the group. If the respondents don't have motivation for self-education, and haven't received useful skills and knowledge, then find in their place people who will more effectively use the opportunities of the space for self-education.
6. Group members who will easily cope with the assigned tasks will receive more complex tasks. If they will cope with more complex tasks - stimulate them with valuable gifts, such as laptops, smart phones, payment for Internet access at the place of residence, as well as an offer to take part in digital projects, where they will be able not only to solve the assigned tasks in a team developers, but also receive payment for their work.
7. Once a month, invite group members to come up with a project and describe the idea of a project that they would like to implement. If the members of the group wish to implement a project together with each other - support the implementation of such a project, and provide funds from the Sputnik Foundation. Of course, the support of the group's project should not exceed the funds of the Sputnik Foundation, and should not interfere with the further development of the Sputnik Foundation.
8. The implementation of the Action Plan will continue until all members of the group acquire the necessary skills and knowledge. At this stage, it is impossible to predict the exact duration of the Action Plan. Approximate data on the duration of the self-education process will be uploaded to the Internet with public access, immediately after all members of the group acquire the skills necessary to self-employment, or for participating in existing projects.

Possible deviations from The Action Plan:

1. It's necessary to find out in practice how much time it will take to ensure that all members of the group receive the necessary skills and knowledge, and can either independently find tasks for themselves, or join existing projects. In the case when the group members have a strong gap in the acquired skills, and part of the group reaches the level required for participating in digital projects, while the other part doesn't yet have the necessary skills, it's allowed to conduct an additional recruitment into the self-education group.
2. In the process of self-education, observe the group members who are the most responsive and most often help other participants in solving problems, or explain well what they have understood themselves. Also, reward such group members with valuable gifts, and invite them to join the Sputnik Foundation as mentors for future generations who want to receive self-education. Such group members will get financial support from the Sputnik Foundation, so that they can not worry about where to get the funds to live, but fully devote themselves to supporting future self-education groups.
3. Every day, group members can spend time on anything, including online games. But you need to make sure that the games take no more than 4 hours a day, with the exception if the games are of an educational nature, for example, "Learn Python from Minecraft".
4. If the space for self-education is suitable for an overnight stay, it's possible to allow group members to spend the night in the space. But at first, it's important to make sure that families of such group members are not against such overnight stays. It's also necessary to ensure that group members sleep at least 8 hours a day. Or at least 16 hours over the course of two days. Different group members may have different sleep and wakefulness patterns. It's allowed to divide the group into those who study in the morning-afternoon and evening-night periods, if families of the group members are not against such a division.
5. The space for self-education must have access to water and food. Group members are required to prepare their own meals, but the groceries are provided at the expense of the Sputnik Foundation. In case that among the group members there are those who are good at preparing food for the whole group, invite such members to join the Sputnik Foundation as an office manager, and provide them financial support from the Sputnik Foundation.