About
The Open Fields Project enables internet-independent agricultural monitoring and control, designed especially for developing and underdeveloped regions with low, fixed-cost hardware.
Mission Statement
The Open Fields Project is a fully non-profit, offline-first, open-source IoT platform created to support small-scale agriculture in developing and underdeveloped regions. Our mission is to deliver sustainable, affordable, and reliable tools that empower farming communities to collect, share, and act on local environmental data — without relying on the internet or proprietary platforms.
Designed with resilience, correctness, and efficiency in mind — following principles akin to the "NASA power of 10" engineering mindset — The Open Fields Project minimizes complexity, prioritizes power efficiency, and keeps processing centralized on robust server-side systems. Field nodes remain lightweight, conserving battery and bandwidth through secure, compact communication protocols like LoRa and Wi-Fi over a local mesh.
We exist to serve communities, not markets — ensuring total transparency, collaboration, and freedom from commercial influence. By embracing open standards and building in public, we aim to cultivate a shared technological foundation for those most often left behind.
Vision
We envision a world where farmers, regardless of geography, wealth, or infrastructure, can access stable, energy-efficient technologies that help them manage water, soil, weather, and crops intelligently — all without an internet connection.
The Open Fields Project seeks to level the field — both literally and metaphorically — by fostering a decentralized, community-driven ecosystem that values cooperation over competition, and purpose over profit.
Core Principles
🌿 Non-Profit by Design: The Open Fields Project is built with a clear commitment to public good. We reject commercialization and maintain transparency in all development and governance. The platform is created by the community, for the community, without corporate influence.
📡 Offline-First Architecture: Connectivity shouldn’t be a barrier. All core functionality is designed to work without the internet — leveraging local networks, LoRa, and direct device interaction. No cloud, no subscriptions — just tools that work, wherever they’re needed.
⚙️ Simplicity & Correctness: We favor lean, stable code over feature bloat. Inspired by space-grade engineering, The Open Fields Project prioritizes correctness, reliability, and predictability — especially in constrained, real-world environments.
🪴 Sustainable & Low-Power: We minimize energy usage and avoid unnecessary computation on remote nodes. Data is processed centrally on local, robust hardware, extending battery life and making devices suitable for solar, battery, or remote deployments.
🧩 Modular & Maintainable: The system is built in clear layers: data acquisition, processing, and dissemination. Each is separable, inspectable, and maintainable — encouraging local adaptation and repair.
🔐 Privacy & Security: All device communication is encrypted (AES), and internet-facing components are minimal. Data belongs to the community — not third parties.
🌍 Inclusive & Community-Driven: We prioritize usability and contribution from non-technical users, local stakeholders, and those with limited access to tools. Simplicity and access are core to the user and contributor experience.
🌾 Culturally and Contextually Aware: Solutions are designed around the needs and constraints of developing regions — local farming practices, infrastructure realities, and language considerations are at the forefront.
Ethics & Philosophy
Built on principles, not profit.
The Open Fields Project is guided by a strong ethical commitment to openness, equity, and sustainability. This platform exists to serve — not sell. We’re committed to:
Non-profit values: No paywalls. No "premium" features. No hidden agendas. Everything we build is free, open-source, and made to be shared.
User-centered design: We prioritize the needs of real people in developing regions. Tools must work without internet, run on modest hardware, and be easy to fix locally.
Correctness over cosmetics: We focus on reliability and accuracy. When you're managing crops, livestock, or water resources, the data must be right — not just look pretty.
Sustainability first: Energy-efficient design, low bandwidth requirements, and minimal dependency chains are core goals — both for the environment and real-world practicality.
Community collaboration: Anyone can contribute. We welcome developers, farmers, researchers, and curious tinkerers from all backgrounds to join us in building tools that truly matter.
GitHub
Explore the source code, contribute, or report issues:
🌱 View on GitHubThis project is fully open-source under the GPLv3 license.