Fab Labs are portable rapid prototyping facilities that can be deployed worldwide to allow local manufacture of physical objects. Over the several years that they have been in existence, they have been used for making RF components in Norway, copier gears in India, and for education in the inner city of Boston. A FabLab network has permitted the individual facilities to share ideas and solutions.
A Fab Lab has been established in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, both as a base for research and an experiment in itself in the impact of providing modern means for invention rather than remotely-developed solutions to local problems. The initial focus on applications in healthcare is targeting some of the most immediate needs, which are currently constrained by the need for long supply chains or large local inventories. As solutions are developed and tested in the Jalalabad fab lab, they will be shared throughout the global fab lab network. The connection with this network, along with access to rapid-prototyping capabilities, is also expected to contribute to the regional development of educational and economic activity.
