Business

In a very general sense, business means occupation (see the etymology). Here, the specific occupation is around software, which are the intended products, which may be partly free and partly commercial. Accordingly, in the early stages, the business is mainly concerned with the development of software prototypes, beginning with a proof of concept, i.e. a website (or, possibly app) that can be demonstrated and tested by selected parties.

The overall goal is the development of Sigala, but this is unconventional, so as a stepping stone attention is being given to more mainstream projects that can generate start-up capital.

MakeStaticSiteWeb

The first of these is to implement MakeStaticSite as an easy-to-use service hosted on the Web.

How you can help

One of the first tasks is to draft a business plan. At this early stage, each contributor needs to be self-financed, until we secure financial backing. The immediate focus is on MakeStaticSiteWeb, which is envisaged as a kind of financial bootstrap. For the longer term, I have expressed some thoughts on economic viability (on the Sigala research site).

We’ll need to form a team. There are many roles for an initiative like Sigala, especially once the project gains momentum and the software development is put on a more formal footing. Some which will be crucial are:

• community liaison — I wish to target early versions at children, so as to make the design inherently safe. I would like the liaison to work with existing organisations such as the Jubilee Centre to develop in conjunction with schools, but also work through community elders, perhaps through bodies such as councils of faith.
• researchers — the project’s research is ongoing and needs to be strengthened by relevant expertise in many fields. This can involve both formal and informal collaboration.
• software development
  • requirements analyst — this technical role, working closely with the community liaison, will translate the requirements from communities into software requirements. Particular attention should be given to safety requirements.
  • systems architect — what software services do we need, how are the components related to each other? Particular attention is to be given to security, which is a role in itself.
  • lead developer — in the early stages of prototyping, this role will be pivotal. Once the project starts progressing beyond that, they will need to build their own team of developers, including testers.
  • usability specialist — a role intrinsic to the design and development process, with particular attention to accessibility.
• legal — obligations and best practice covering accessibility, privacy, intellectual property rights, etc.
• communications — to keep everyone, internally and externally, informed of project progress.

This page was published on 8 June 2022 and last updated on January 29, 2024 .