Bas van Abel (1977), Founder of Fairphone, is passionate about changing the relationship between people and products. He believes that by opening up the design processes behind everyday thing people can re-engage and become active owners of their stuff. This was the inspiration on which he based the model for his social enterprise Fairphone, which is opening up systems on a step-by-step journey to making the world’s first fairly designed and produced smartphone.

With a background in interaction design and a personal interest in electronics, Open Design has been a driving force behind Bas van Abel’s many initiatives. As Head of Waag Society’s Open Design Lab (1995 – 2012), he established FABLab Amsterdam, a community maker space and as co-founder of the Instructables Restaurant, he initiated the world’s first open source restaurant. Bas is co-author of “Open Design Now”, a book on the transformation of design into an open discipline.