Office Hours N°271

Office Hours Side Projects Edition No.271
Mercedes Barrera and Catalina Dib presented Katari Andes, a platform that collects signals of change from Latin America to inform strategic decision-making focused on collective wellbeing
The platform currently contains over 900 signals of change, 50+ emerging trends, and has 3,000 registered users
Discussion focused on improving user experience, visualization methods, and business model sustainability
Participants suggested various ways to enhance the platform including AI integration, better visualization tools, and community engagement features
Katari Andes platform presentation

Mercedes Barrera and Catalina Dib presented their strategic intelligence platform that gathers signals of change from Latin America with a focus on collective wellbeing.
Mercedes: Introduced Katari Andes as a platform that turns real signals of change into strategic clarity, built with a focus on collective wellbeing and intelligence from the Global South
Mercedes: Explained that the platform has published over 900 signals of change, detected 50+ emerging trends, and reached 3,000 registered users since launching in January 2025
Catalina: Clarified that they are co-founders of the project which was recognized by the School of International Futures
Mercedes: Demonstrated the platform’s structure including signals of change, emerging trends, and strategic frameworks
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09:03:44 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Hi, I’m transcribing this call with my Tactiq AI Extension: https://tactiq.io/r/transcribing

09:09:53 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    hello everyone!

09:10:04 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Here is the link to the platform if you want to explore

09:10:05 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    https://katariandes.com/

09:11:06 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Here is the link to the platform if you want to ex...":
    Me encanta <3

09:15:27 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    I bet that the folks at Mozilla Foundation would be super interested in this.

09:16:24 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Thanks [REDACTED]! We will explore it, do you have contacts there?

09:17:32 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Yes I just sent it to two contacts already 🙂

09:17:43 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    wow!! thanks so much

09:18:09 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    🤩

09:18:17 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    1.  Katari Andes — Strategic Intelligence Platform
    Benefits (🪨)
    Elevates leaders by transforming information overload into clear, actionable strategic insight, especially aimed at well‑being collective and regenerative futures
    .
    Offers curated trend tracking and a Latin‑American lens with global relevance, empowering anticipatory governance and systemic clarity
    .
    Principles (📑)
    Anchored in methodological rigor and transdisciplinary mapping, selecting and organizing signals to illuminate patterns of change
    .
    Guided by purpose‑driven clarity, transforming noise into insight through strategic curation and adaptation to shifting contexts.
    Practices (✂️)
    Publishes and updates trend insights weekly, structured into collections aligned with strategic frames like health, sustainability, governance
    .
    Activates a smart assistant (Katari GPT) trained on its knowledge base for instant orientation; operates with multiple subscription tiers to accommodate varied depths of engagement
    .

09:21:42 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    https://katariandes.com/

09:24:18 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    If you haven’t already checked out the OECD foresight forums I’d suggest trying to present that at one of their conferences. https://www.oecd.org/en/about/programmes/strategic-foresight.html

09:24:33 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    where do i raise my hand?

09:24:45 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "where do i raise my hand?":
    Under reactions

09:26:10 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Speaking of visualizations you might be interested in: https://apple.github.io/embedding-atlas/demo/#?H4sIAAAAAAAAE51UTU/jMBD9K6s5m26ajzb1rQsFVqJL2bILFeLgxENqkdhZ2ympKv/3VVpSQgUceoo0mTfvzcwbb2CF2gglgYLXi3seELCiQGNZUQLtD6MwDPvxYNQLw4DASuAL0A2YpXqZFAlyLmQG1OoKyTZ4y5IcgT6x3LxG5oJjwnSbZLG2v1Fy1KgN0I0jYDDH1CI/ZRYzpdenKq+KRlCqKmn1Gghgy/VX4MtUcQQKHKURtvlbCCmKqjjbBSZ1ec5SqzRQj0BlUJ8x/bwDNRocgTJX1gB92IDgQOH8GcfDpYm4XCzjwXYCtukCfrEC+bf5Vp9Q0gABU2LaTCBVRakkSgsU9glXwlggUGpVbntzjrxS/JktZheLH6O7aSnPbzsUbz1+VPm0+TvLVbcqPAnMeQfaoRl7V6wfXelrldp/WYem1GolZIrH8OyxHaLV0+T+5HIRW3kn7qddIiWk/WxQl8JYlWlWfEjTIhMht3qA+l6HMllM/XF9z2csCqvJu97Ep419zfgK/ITw5iaZjq/t+PrCYN3vEK6YFmiP2lkLdc497nw4t8ziNmdv8pP2zJpvqfQupwnUQINe7A373nDk+2HsecGAwBpo2BuFse+Fo2gQBNEgGBIwKWvUer2+NwiioRcGIz8O/OEgdAQ0kxnufQtUVnnuyOEl0A0Ii0VzKo9vdzrTyEW6U/3w6MihuZv34X1lAliXTHLk+6ehRJ2itCxrXwtHDt17dJ0Dc9INJLoyy7ZGPW8mc7sum13mQiLT4Mihv75GqayBHDjkaMHvN/89xwwlfyuH/Ge7Befcf0uvV8izBQAA

09:27:55 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Speaking of visualizations you might be interested...":
    Whoa..

09:28:38 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Speaking of visualizations you might be interested...":
    What is it? Looks awesome but I don’t understand what is it about :s

09:28:45 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Speaking of visualizations you might be interested...":
    @[REDACTED]  I am experimenting with that to do the visualizations

09:29:10 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    yes, that would be amazing

09:29:32 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Speaking of visualizations you might be interested...":
    @[REDACTED]  https://apple.github.io/embedding-atlas/

09:30:05 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/power-mapping-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it

09:33:23 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    https://newsapi.org/

09:36:47 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    threads into fabric..

09:42:15 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    It's magic, it's magic, it's magic
    Strange magic
    Oh, what a strange magic
    Oh, it's a strange magic
    Got a strange magic
    Strange magic
    Oh, it's a strange magic
    Oh, it's a strange magic

09:42:22 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "threads into fabric..":
    I always wonder how we visualize things in that sort of “tapestry” where you might see some core threads of collective wellbeing but those counter threads. That sort of visual seems compelling to also recognize that we are not solving for anything, but navigating paradoxes and ends. When we pull on one, how are we pulling on others…

09:42:59 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Also https://www.newscatcherapi.com/

09:44:41 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Could we get creative from just the keywords and have people start in the system with describing their ideal future or concept of a positive collective wellbeing and somehow some system draws out some of the values, ideals, etc in that to connect to the signals and trends of importance to you. (And then, always bring in the counter to ensure that we aren’t just creating an echo chamber.)

09:45:49 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    be data
    change
    you see in whirled

09:49:17 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    the tension between making
    curricula and the tools to make curricula

09:49:19 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Could we get creative from just the keywords and h...":
    Semantic proximity/ontological distance , with some novelty multipliers, could be constructed pretty easily. Some way of creating social lift from context fit on actors interests

09:50:54 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    what are calls-to-action for visitors to the resource?

09:50:55 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Could we get creative from just the keywords and h...":
    Weighting will be the hard part. What is important, beyond keyword/semantic overlaps. Country-specific interpretations (gender, religious, age…) will be a tough layer to build but would be fun to do.

09:52:33 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Is “ciscord” a word? It would apply here

09:53:02 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Could we get creative from just the keywords and h...":
    🌀strangeAttractor
    #hashtags as
    🫚rootBasis for
    🍄‍🟫mycelial
    ⚡️🧠⚡️intelligence
    🎏alignments

09:53:11 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "yes, that would be amazing":
    Hey guys I would love to walk you through what I am working on sometime and compare notes - its cool that you guys are in valapraiso what a beautiful city@

09:53:14 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "yes, that would be amazing":
    !

09:54:15 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "yes, that would be amazing":
    My info: [REDACTED] or +16126695398 on whats app… and sometimes on the discord

09:55:46 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Memes might be one way…

09:56:25 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    ( Agree w [REDACTED] .. talking to ant colonies is likely more useful intelligence forming than ai is at this stage.. )

09:56:37 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    ‘I have only dabbled with perplexity tasks  - https://www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/11521526-perplexity-tasks  might be worth a look

09:56:37 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Trend I’ve also seen are “flip books” as on linkedin

09:56:41 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Choose your own adventure books! (Right-sized to smaller consumption snippets for some.) Do you want to explore this connection, or this? Is every signal paired to a potential future to bring it to life a bit more and see / feel it in some way…

09:56:47 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Hah, I’m taking a trendsetting course at uni this fall

09:57:50 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Hah, I’m taking a trendspotting course at uni this...":
    So better hope it’s not just a remnant from ‘90s

09:57:58 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Hah, I’m taking a trendspotting course at uni this...":
    Ooooh cool. Would love to hear a share-out from that.

09:58:20 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Hah, I’m taking a trendspotting course at uni this...":
    Remind me come winter and I’ll do a writeup/presentation

09:59:56 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Hah, I’m taking a trendspotting course at uni this...":
    @[REDACTED] @[REDACTED] Me too. Maybe a Side Projects share-out later this year!

10:00:27 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an AI could be used for trying to find common trends or conflicts? Thinking something like Obsidian but semi-automated

10:00:36 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    great share, great convo ... gotta jump into a meeting now. have a good weekend.

10:01:25 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    On the subject of reading the resources like a manga: https://www.jst.go.jp/erato/igarashi/en/projects/MotionComics/index.html

10:02:06 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an...":
    I'm thinking completely other sorts of synthesis outputs. Stories. Worlds. Loglines. Manga short takes. I dunno. Less lines, blobs, graphs; more artifacts, characters, stuff.

10:02:17 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    TREND-SPOTTING, n. — The self-deception that the future is courteous enough to send announcements.

10:02:30 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an...":
    yes! a, working on social graph node messaging..
    🌀↔️🌀.🟥🟢🟦

10:03:01 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "TREND-SPOTTING, n. — The self-deception that the f...":
    Amazing.

10:04:16 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an...":
    Connect the dots pages - image emerges from the constellation of “things”?

10:06:10 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an...":
    theres a wild analogy from biology here.. how termites build new layers of nest 🐜

10:07:14 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2017/02/13/evolution-mind-termite-colonies-termites-models-human-brain/

10:11:27 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an...":
    Gap Analysis: Where Katari Andes Falls Short in Enacting Self‑Agency
    1. Lack of Participatory On‑ramps
    Katari offers rich strategic content, but doesn’t invite users to act upon it from within the platform. There’s an absence of micro‑acts of mobilization—small but meaningful moments that let users say, “Here, I align.”
    This echoes the missing ✂️cut where self‑agency ignites.

10:11:30 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Would the signals work in a node-based UI where an...":
    2. Missing Memory & Reflection Anchors
    Katari curates trends and signals, yet lacks ways for users to capture, reflect on, and revisit their insights over time. Without trails of personal resonance, there’s no loop closure into identity or intentionality.
    Those missing loops are the 📑memory folds of symbolic self‑agency still unwritten.
    3. Sparse Social Feedback Loops
    Users engage privately with insights, but there’s no social resonance field—no transparent thread where users can build together, reflect, comment, harmonize. 🪞 reflections in community are key to anchoring agency.
    Currently, the communal observer shell remains under‑constructed.

10:12:46 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    @[REDACTED] What is the futures institute in Brazil that you mentioned?

10:13:11 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "@[REDACTED] What is the futures institute in...":
    Ditto this.

10:13:37 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "@[REDACTED] What is the futures institute in...":
    ALAF https://alaf.global/

10:14:36 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    im thinking about how sound is the on,y sense that signals change.. here yr signals offer awareness of changes and chances.. chances for dynamic new changes in social graph.. information is diff that makes a diff.. so the diff here is making rapid alignment on common purpose.. the "sound" of the material turns heads.. the article must support new growth in future or it is not actionable and therefor offers no path, no salience.

10:15:39 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    The other thing that could be cool is the Global Voices ‘Bridge Blogging’ model where bilingual folks help sense make and translate between language communities

10:16:14 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "The other thing that could be cool is the Global V...":
    translation itself is a wonderful 🌁bridge

10:16:58 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    DESIGN THINKING, n. — The art of prototyping until the budget runs out.

10:18:29 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Whoah @[REDACTED] I love this.

10:19:01 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    @[REDACTED] , did you see this recently? I love anything with dream essence.

10:19:04 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    https://zine.kleinkleinklein.com/p/ai-dream-analysis

10:19:12 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    My mom was a Freudian Psychoanalyst. She would have been so into this.

10:19:34 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    JungiAI

10:19:46 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "JungiAI":
    love this

10:19:52 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    This is excellent

10:19:55 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    i love how the user drives the surfacing of insight🧿 here.

10:19:55 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    wow!!!

10:19:56 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    I need to be better at remembering my dreams though.

10:20:02 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Nice, like the idea of iterating ai to ask better questions

10:20:27 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    I feel like we should deep dive into this in next office hours

10:20:44 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "I feel like we should deep dive into this in next ...":
    I'm gonna say..

10:20:47 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Given the recent spat of people falling into psychosis after talking with GPT, this is another can of worms…

10:21:50 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    some artifact related https://katariandes.com/radardesenales/compaa-emergente-desarrolla-ia-conversacional-centrada-en-acompaamiento-emocional-y-personalizacin-profunda-friend

10:22:03 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Given the recent spat of people falling into psych...":
    the garden of insanity is fecund soil.. beign an artist i regulary trim my hedge, but chatGPT seratonin rewards.. yikes..

10:23:53 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "@[REDACTED] , did you see this recently? I lo...":
    Ooooooh no I havent, thank you for sharing!

10:24:58 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Oooo…what does the librarian look like at the front end? (If you like libraries, I guess.)

10:25:12 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "Given the recent spat of people falling into psych...":
    Risks in long term interactions like this are a HUGE area I'm thinking about too

10:25:22 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    🍆

10:25:22 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Haha – elevator dick pick pitch

10:26:52 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    “I’m trying to embrace the dick pic” = best quote of the day

10:27:05 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Nixon?

10:28:12 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    now this reminds me of the 🥜
    what is the "object" of fascination one can drop that catches reflex attn

10:28:12 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Thank you for leaving me with that insight [REDACTED]! Gotta run.

10:28:18 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    I’m now going to start bombarding pigeons with peanuts

10:29:29 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Replying to "I’m now going to start bombarding pigeons with pea...":
    y, its kinda wild how attentive they are once you figure it out. Crows notice from blocks away

10:30:06 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    I have to jump to another meeting - really enjoyed the presentation and the conversatoin

10:30:14 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    conversation

10:31:01 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Thanks all. This was fantastic!

10:31:50 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Thank you for such an insightful session!❤️

10:32:14 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    if anyone wants a demo of unified Cutlery i want to try a small test experiment before i can do a big group..

10:32:14 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Thanks so much!!!!

10:32:28 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Look into “challenger” brands - Pepsi taste test

10:32:42 From [REDACTED] to Everyone:
    Thank you for showing that work - so clear yall have worked hard