Why I am building AKOS
I have seen product development from both sides: first in software, and later through years of practical work trying to create new uses for miscanthus. The technologies were different, but the recurring problem was the same. Important knowledge became scattered between people, files, experiments and meetings.
An idea could sound compelling while fundamental questions remained unanswered. A technical result might be encouraging without proving that a customer would buy the product. Commercial enthusiasm could push work forward before the regulatory or manufacturing pathway was understood.
AKOS began as an attempt to impose discipline on our own development work. It is becoming something broader: a governed route through the commercial, technical and impact questions that stand between an idea and a credible pilot.
Evidence should not merely be stored. It should change what happens next.
We are now reviewing the prototype across the complete journey. That means testing the less visible functions as seriously as the demonstration screens: governance, evidence quality, permissions, audit history, stakeholder involvement and the decisions made at each phase.
This journal will record selected parts of that process. It will include mistakes and unresolved questions as well as progress, because a polished retrospective would miss the point of what we are trying to build.
What comes next
The next update will look at why the initial idea brief matters, and how apparently simple omissions can distort every later stage of a development programme.