The Promise of Self-Sufficient Production

As global supply chains have revealed their vulnerabilities during the pandemic, digital fabrication technologies demonstrate a new way forward.

Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Alan Gershenfeld, and Neil Gershenfeld

December 01, 2020

The Research

• This article builds on the research we conducted for our book, Designing Reality (Basic Books, 2017), for which we conducted a stakeholder survey and dozens of interviews with experts.
• We conducted additional interviews with individuals at the frontiers of innovation during the pandemic.
• We are also participant observers, directly involved on a personal basis in various pandemic responses. This adds a potential bias to our perspective while also providing for deeper ...