Needed: Unfinished Projects Registry

30Aug09

A government agency is restructured, and what people were trying to achieve previously is mothballed. A company goes out of business, and some really cool thing that its people were trying to develop gets put into boxes in a warehouse. A retired individual has a labor of love underway, and would like to pass along what s/he has learned and achieved to some younger person who takes an interest in it.

Some of these projects may only be partially disclosable. There may be legal restrictions, financial obligations, or simple reluctance to throw one’s pearls before swine. Adjustments may need to be made but, in general terms, the concept is that people work really hard on many important things that unfortunately get interrupted or sidetracked, and then someone else comes along later and has to reinvent the wheel.

What is needed, then, is a way or place by which people can make some kind of record of what they are working on and which parts of it are available to be passed along, for specified (e.g., for-profit or not-for-profit) purposes, and under what circumstances. In one scenario, you could describe your work in your webpage or Facebook page, with a link to a registry or other repository of information (e.g., whom to contact for further details in case you or your company are no longer available for, or interested in, the project). Your registry entry could then indicate that this material is to be shared only in the event of your death, or to anyone who is interested, or whatever.