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2023-12-31-accounts

Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 Charity Number: 1184807

(Formerly Field Ready)

Trustees’ Report

for the Year Ending 31[st] December 2023

Notes on Nomenclature

On 23[rd] May 2023, the Charity “Field Ready” changed its name to “Internet of Production UK”. For the first part of the period covered by this report, the Charity was legally named “Field Ready”. However, to avoid confusion, this report refers to the Charity as “Internet of Production UK” throughout.

The charity was previously part of the wider Field Ready movement. Where “Field Ready” is mentioned in this report, it refers to the entity acting as the head of the Field Ready movement – an organisation based in the USA – or the wider Field Ready movement, as the context allows. It does not refer to the Charity.

The Internet of Production UK has received in-kind support from strategic communications firm Prophet to develop a new brand for the charity; this will be launched in early 2024. As part of this re-brand the Internet of Production UK has now registered a trading name ‘Internet of Production’.

Objectives and Activities

Internet of Production UK’s charitable objects are, for the public benefit, the relief of human suffering or assistance of people in need in any part of the world who are affected by war or natural disaster or catastrophe by providing aid and capacity building to identify and help meet their needs.

Our team worked remotely and were based in the UK, Denmark, USA, Mexico and Kenya.

The Internet of Production UK’s activities were delivered through the five projects in 2023 described below.

Internet of Production Alliance

This continuing project was due to end in June 2023 but with the agreement of the donor, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, it was extended until November 2023. Final reporting will take place in 2024.

The project’s main outputs during the year were:

The team contributed to several community events and conferences, including: the State of Open Conference in London; the Future of Manufacturing Conference in Hamburg, which was followed by an Internet of Production Alliance gathering; the Digital Infrastructure Declaration workshops of the FabCity Declaration; the launch of the Open ToolChain Foundation, followed by a hackathon; the Open Source Hardware Association Summit in New York; RePublica and the Global Innovation Gathering in Berlin; the TCT trade show for 3D Printing in Birmingham; the AidEx aid sector trade show and conference in Nairobi; the Response Innovation Lab conference in Nairobi; the International Association for the Study of the Commons conference in Nairobi, including sessions on open hardware; the global FabLab conference ‘Fab23’ in Thimphu; the launch of the Ecological Citizens project in London; the Health & Humanitarian Logistics Conference in Nairobi; the VULCA Conference of European makerspaces in Ljubljana, and; the Global Digital Health Forum in Washington DC.

Attempts to register a charitable foundation for the Alliance in Denmark were unsuccessful despite significant effort. This means that Internet of Production UK will continue into 2024 as the only legal entity for this work on building an Alliance.

The trustees would like to thank The Appropedia Foundation for its support as a fiscal sponsor of this project on our behalf, helping us to meet the donor requirement to have a US-registered recipient.

African European Makerspace Eco-systems (mAkE)

In September 2023, the UK Government finally negotiated a deal that allowed British organisations to rejoin the Horizon research programme for the first time since the UK left the European Union. This was a breakthrough for the Internet of Production UK because it meant that we could finally take part in the mAkE project as planned. This three-year project began in January 2022. Fortunately, much of our work is in the second half of the project.

Following the appointment of a project manager, early outputs were the catalogue of business models, map of machines, the people and skills standard and the maker passport trial. Having previously attended 2022 consortia meetings of this project in Berlin and Cape Town informally, the team from Internet of Production UK was able to participate formally in the consortia meeting in Berlin in June. In October, the project received a very successful review by the European Commission. We are on track with all our deliverables during 2024.

The project has attracted a great deal of interest and publicity in our communities. See the project website at www.mAkEafricaeu.org for more information.

Innovative Manufacturing in Africa

Distributed Manufacturing Ltd in Kisumu, Kenya, contracted the Internet of Production UK to project manage the ‘Innovative Manufacturing in Africa’ project. This project was instigated by the Internet of Production UK team and so it aligned very closely with our work on the Internet of Production Alliance and mAkE projects. We supported nine makerspaces in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa through the ‘Innovative Manufacturing in Africa Awards’. The project allowed us to trial our innovations in distributed manufacturing, skills recognition, the mapping of machines and makerspace business models. It was a highly successful, year-long project.

Particular activities that the Internet of Production UK team delivered were an academic research mentoring programme (which will be written up in future) and the development of the first ever set of common Makerspace Impact Indicators. We ran three trials of distributed manufacturing, where contracts and payments were managed manually, in order to learn lessons and inform future work. In June the Internet of Production UK team were visited some of the Kenyan makerspaces participating in the project, namely FabLab Winam and Gearbox. The project, along with the mAkE project, was well represented at the AfriLabs Gathering in Kigali in October.

The project was funded by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through their ‘Research & Innovation Systems in Africa’ (RISA) fund managed by Chemonics in Nairobi, Kenya. The work was match-funded by the mAkE project.

Code for Science & Society

This small but important project allowed us to focus on the governance of the Alliance of organisations interested in working towards an Internet of Production. The work was part of the Code for Science & Society’s Digital Infrastructure Incubator and included training and mentoring sessions for the team.

The trustees would like to thank The Appropedia Foundation for its support as a fiscal sponsor of this project on our behalf, helping us meet the donor requirement to have a US-registered recipient.

Plastic2Ghar

Phase 2 ended in mid-April 2023 as reported previously. Phase 3 was to run April 2023 to June 2024. This phase was where we were to play the largest role, however severe budget cuts by the UK Government made this very difficult. The donor also extended the project to March 2026 to lower the rate of spending. The direction of the project changed naturally during Phase 2, with less focus on the aid sector market where we were able to bring our expertise. Finally, the professional interests of our team also changed significantly by the end of Phase 2 so we were considering the need to recruit a new team. In the end, we took the decision to withdraw from Phase 3 and to return our awarded share of the budget to the other two consortium members.

This decision solved several problems at once and cleared the way for the charity to focus on projects that are more closely related to the Internet of Production concept (as described above). We remain interested in distributed and localised solutions to plastic recycling – indeed, it is an area where we can bring unique expertise that is not widely available in the aid or manufacturing sectors – and continue to see waste plastic as a raw material with a lot of potential. We also began finding new ways to engage with our Plastic2Ghar consortium partners in Nepal and at the University of Cambridge during the latter half of 2023.

One important outcome of this project is the registration of ‘Fab Foundation Nepal’ in Nepal as a non-profit, charitable non-governmental organisation. The Plastic2Ghar project was to register an NGO in Nepal as part of its work, and the team felt that supporting distributed manufacturing capacity in the form of supporting makerspaces across the country was really needed. Internet of Production UK and its colleagues in Nepal have enjoyed a successful relationship with the US-headquartered Fab Foundation which supports the world’s ‘Fabrication Laboratory’ (FabLab) makerspaces. Immediately following the global FabLab conference held in Bhutan in late July 2023, the team hosted a successful visit by the senior management of the Fab Foundation. The visit included visits to makerspaces, presentations to ministries to promote makerspaces and community meetings at ImpactHub Kathmandu which hosts FabLab Nepal. We gathered enough representatives of the makerspace community at one of these meetings to be able to meet the Nepali Government’s requirements of membership to form an NGO. We also reached an agreement with the Fab Foundation to use the name Fab Foundation Nepal. We then gathered an impressive local board together and the NGO underwent legal registration by December 2023. The Internet of Production UK continues to host their website www.fabfoundationnepal.org and is seeking opportunities to collaborate with them in 2024 – most likely by adapting the mAkE project to the South Asia region – as they support the growth of makerspaces in Nepal.

The trustees would like to thank Massive Small Manufacturing Ltd for its support as a fiscal sponsor of this project on our behalf, whilst we awaited the set-up of a bank account for the charity.

Financial Review

Internet of Production UK recognised £222k of restricted funds towards its projects (2022: £209k), which was matched by its expenditure on those projects. As such, its reserves at the end of the period are zero.

As reserves are zero, and the Charity did not have ongoing operating costs that would require the holding of reserves, the trustees had not adopted a formal reserves policy during the period. Operating costs have started to be incurred in 2024, and as such the trustees are in the process of creating a reserves policy.

The Charity was unable to open a bank account in its own name during the period. To facilitate payment to its projects, it entered conduit agreements with the Appropedia Foundation in the USA and Massive Small Manufacturing Ltd in the UK. As such, the Charity did not hold a cash balance of its own at the end of the period, and cash balances held on its behalf by other entities are recorded as debtors in these accounts. At the end of 2023, Internet of Production UK entered into a client accounting arrangement to allow it to operate bank accounts for itself, and remaining unspent funds are expected to be distributed back to Internet of Production UK in the next financial year. The Charity holds no investments.

Structure, Governance and Management

The Internet of Production UK is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number: 1184807) on 7[th] August 2019. It operates under its Articles of Association of the same date, updated to reflect the Charity’s name change on 23[rd] April 2023.

The Trustees operate as a Board to manage the charity. New trustees are appointed on election by the existing trustees on confirmation that they meet the relevant requirements. As the Charity has no staff, the Board make all decisions.

The Internet of Production UK is no longer affiliated with the Field Ready movement, although it collaborates on remaining joint projects under a Memorandum of Understanding with Field Ready. It also is not currently affiliated with any other Internet of Production entity. The Charity remains legally independent of all other entities, and the Board have sole power to make decisions and set the Charity’s policies and priorities.

Reference and Administrative Details

Legal Name Internet of Production UK
Previous Legal Name Field Ready
Charity Registration Number 1184807
Registered Office c/o The Centre for Global Equality
8C Kings Parade
Cambridge
CB2 1SJ
Trustees Serving to date of approval Stuart Davis
Prof Paul Sherlock OBE
(retired 22n August 2023)
Benjamin Britton
(retired 26th October 2023))
Dr Lucia Corsini
(appointed 7th August 2023)
Christina Rebel
(appointed 3rd October 2023)

The Internet of Production UK did not operate a bank account and did not receive professional advice during the period. Therefore, no banker or advisor detail has been included above.

Independent Examiner’s report to the Trustees of Internet of Production UK

I report to the trustees on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 that are set out on the attached pages.

Respective responsibilities of the Trustee’s and the examiner

The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission.

An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you, as trustees, concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair view” and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination no matter has come to my attention:

  1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and

  3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the requirements of the 2011 Act and Regulations have not been met; or

  4. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed Dated Paul Voltzenlogel

Internet of Production UK (formerly Field Ready) Statement of Financial Activities

For the year ending 31 December 2023

Income
Income From Charitable Activities
Total Income
Expenditure
Expenditure on Charitable Activities
Total Expenditure
Net Movement in Funds
Reconciliation of Funds:
Total Funds Brought Forward
Movement in the Year
Total Funds Carried Forward		 2023
2023
2023
2022
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
£
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Internet of Production UK (formerly Field Ready)

Balance Sheet

For the year ending 31 December 2023

Notes
Fixed Assets
Tangible Fixed Assets
Total Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Cash in hand and at bank
Debtors
9
Total Current Assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one10, 11
Net Current Assets / Liabilities
Total assets less current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
Total net assets or liabilities
Funds of the Charity
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Total funds		 2023
Unrestricted
Funds
£
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0		 2023
Restricted
Funds
£
0
0
0
105,511
105,511
105,511
0
0
0
0
0
0
0		 2023
2022
Total Funds
Total Funds
£
£
0
0
0
0
0
0
105,511
143,721
105,511
143,721
105,511
143,721
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

The Financial Statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 21[st] August 2024.Signed on behalf of the Board:

Stuart Davis

Internet of Production (formerly Field Ready) Notes to the Accounts

1. Corporate Status

Internet of Production UK is a charitable incorporated organisation in England and Wales (charity number: 1184807) and domiciled in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is: c/o The Centre For Global Equality, 8C Kings Parade, Cambridge, CB2 1SJ. Internet of Production was formerly known as Field Ready. The organisation changed its name on 23[rd] May 2023.

Internet of Production UK is a public benefit entity. The nature of its operations and its principal activities, and how these meet the public benefit criteria, are set out in the trustees' report that accompanies these accounts.

2. Accounting Policies

2.1 Basis of Preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

2.2 Going Concern

The Trustees have considered the ability of the charity to meet its commitments over the medium term, and have concluded that it is appropriate to prepare the charity's accounts on a going concern basis.

2.3 Fund Accounting

The charity has adopted the following definitions of funds:

2.4 Incoming Resources

All incoming resources are accounted for when the charity has entitlement, there is certainty of receipt, and the amount is measurable. Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met. Income is accrued and deferred when it is in respect of work to be carried out in other periods than when it is received.

2.5 Resources Expended

Expenditure is recognised when a liability is incurred. Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty. Contractual arrangements and performance-related grants are recognised as services are supplied.

All expenditure is stated gross of VAT as the Internet of Production is not registered for VAT, and no VAT costs are recoverable.

Expenditure related to charitable activities comprise those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries, and includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities, plus those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

2.6 Liability Recognition

Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.

2.7 Grants with Performance Conditions

Where the charity gives a grant with conditions for its payment being a specific level of service or output to be provided, such grants are only recognised in the SoFA once the recipient of the grant has provided the specified service or output.

2.8 Creditors

The charity has creditors which are measured at settlement amounts less any trade discounts.

2.9 Debtors

Debtors (including trade debtors and loans receivable) are measured on initial recognition at settlement amount after any trade discounts or amount advanced by the charity. Subsequently, they are measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be received.

2.10 Payment Agent Arrangements

Internet of Production UK did not have its own bank account during the period. To facilitate expenditure on its projects, it entered into temporary Payment Agent Arrangements with the Appropedia Foundation and Massive Small Manufacturing Ltd, whereby these organisations would hold funds on behalf of Internet of Production UK and settle payments in a timely manner. Cash held at these organisations at the end of the period under these arrangements has been included as debtors in the balance sheet. These arrangements were terminated in the subsequent period, 2024, once the Charity opened its own bank accounts.

3. Analysis of Income
2023
2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
£
£
Charitable Activities:
Grants from Institutional Donors
0
221,988
Total Income from Charitable Activities
0
221,998
Total Income
0
221,998
4. Analysis of Expenditure
2023
2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
£
£
Charitable Activities:
Expenditure on Programmes
0
221,998
Total Expenditure on Charitable Activities
0
221,998
Total Expenditure
0
221,998
5. Analysis of Spend on Charitable Activities
2023
2023
Activities
undertaken
directly
Grant
funding of
activities
£
£
IOP Set-up funded by Sloan Foundation
114,656
0
mAkE
14,241
0
Distributed Manufacturing
45,717
0
Code for Society
5,498
0
SMEP Phases 1 and 2
41,886
0
Total Expenditure on Charitable Activities
221,998
0
Previous Year
208,510
0
6. Fees for Independent Examination
Independent examiner’s fees
Assurance services other than independent examination
Tax advisory fees
Other fees
Total		 2023
2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
£
£
0
221,988		 2023
2022
Total
Funds
Total
Funds
£
£

221,998
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
2023
2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
£
£
0
221,998		 2023
2022
Total
Funds
Total
Funds
£
£

221,988
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
0
221,998
221,998
208,510
2023
2023
Activities
undertaken
directly
Grant
funding of
activities
£
£
114,656
0
14,241
0
45,717
0
5,498
0
41,886
0		 2023
Total this
year
£

0

0

0

0

0

0

0
2023
2022
£
£
540
540
0
0
0
0
0
0
221,998
0
208,510
0
540
540

7. Staff Costs

No staff were directly employed by the charity in the period (2022: 0)

9. Analysis of Debtors

9. Analysis of Debtors
Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Other debtors
Total Debtors		 2023
2022
£
£
0
0
105,511
59,217
0
84,504
105,511
143,721

10. Analysis of Creditors

10. Analysis of Creditors
Trade creditors
Accruals and deferred income
Other creditors
Total Creditors		 Amounts falling due
within 1 year
Amounts falling due
after 1 year
2023
2022
2023
2022
£
£
£
£
46,294
0
0
0
59,217
143,721
0
0
0
0
0
0
105,511
143,721
0
0

11. Movement in Deferred Income

11. Movement in Deferred Income
Balance at the start of the reporting period
Amounts added in current period
Amounts released to income from previous
periods
Balance at the end of the reporting period		 2023
2022
£
£
142,181
0
105,511
142,181
(142,181)
0
105,511
142,181

12. Trustee Expenses and Related Party Disclosures

No trustees claimed expenses during the period (2022: £0)

Stuart Davis is the director and beneficial owner of Stuart Davis Consulting Ltd ("SDC"), a company that provides finance and operational services to charities and Not-for-profit organisations. The SDC team prepared these accounts for a fee of £1,000. SDC has also provided project-related accounting support for a fee of £2,025, and pro bono operational and administrative support to the Board.

13. Analysis of Charitable Funds
Current Period
Restricted Funds:
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
mAkE
Distributed Manufacturing
Code for Society
SMEP Phases 1 & 2 / Plastic2Ghar
Total Restricted Funds
Unrestricted Funds
Total Charitable Funds
Prior Period
Restricted Funds:
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
SMEP Phase 1
SMEP Phase 2
Total Restricted Funds
Total Unrestricted Funds
Total Charitable Funds		 2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
Fund
balances
b/fwd
Income
Expenditure
Transfers
Gains &
losses
Fund
balances
c/fwd
£
£
£
£
£
£
0
114,656
(114,656)
0
0
0
0
14,241
(14,241)
0
0
0
0
45,717
(45,717)
0
0
0
0
5,498
(5,498)
0
0
0
0
41,886
(41,886)
0
0
0
0
221,998
(221,998)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
221,998
(221,998)
0
0
0
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
Fund
balances
b/fwd
Income
Expenditure
Transfers
Gains &
losses
Fund
balances
c/fwd
£
£
£
£
£
£
0
149,293
(149,293)
0
0
0
0
29,485
(29,485)
0
0
0
0
29,732
(29,732)
0
0
0
0
208,510
(208,510)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
208,510
(208,510)
0
0
0