Institute For The Future

A Local Twist on Lightweight Infrastructure

Today I picked up the local Palo Alto paper at the coffee shop across the street and ran into a great example of lightweight infrastructure being pioneered by a local drug gang.

 

This struck me as the epitome of what we mean by lightweight infrastructure - using smaller, modular components to re-purpose existing spaces and networks to provide new functionalities and flexibilities. In this case, its criminals employing a lightweight solution to mitigate and manage the risk of their profession. But the model is the M*A*S*H unit - one of the pioneering examples of ultra-lightweight infrastructure.

 

From the San Francisco Chronicle article on it:

A home where police found a "super" drug lab last week also housed an elaborate hospital-like operation -- stocked with thousands of dollars in medical equipment, surgical tools and supplies -- that authorities believe was to be used to treat injured criminals.

 

The top floor of the Runnymede Street home was filled with "boxes upon boxes upon boxes" of medical supplies and contained a room equipped with a hospital bed, fresh linens, scalpels, IV stands and surgical tools, according to Lt. Tom Alipio of the East Palo Alto police department.

 

"It was set up just like a hospital room,'' said Alipio, who said a second room was in the process of being set up. "We found a kit that a surgeon would use to reassemble a joint -- like a hip or a shoulder."