it must be a competent person (as opposed to merely overconfident)
who really cares about the project (more than about other possible projects)
can convince other people of their competence (the ones who have money)
gets sufficient funding (doesn’t waste their time and energy working a second job)
has autonomy (no manager who would override or second-guess their decisions)
no unexpected disasters (e.g. getting hit by a bus, patent trolls suing the project,...)
Other than the unexpected disasters, it seems like something that a competent civilization should easily do. Once you have competent people, allow them to demonstrate their competence, look for intersection between what they want to do and what you need (or if you are sufficiently rich, just an intersection between what they want to do and what you believe is a good thing), give them money, and let them work.
In real life, having the right skills and sending the right signals is not the same thing; people who do things are not the same as people who decide things; time is wasted on meetings and paperwork.
Things that need to go right:
it must be a competent person (as opposed to merely overconfident)
who really cares about the project (more than about other possible projects)
can convince other people of their competence (the ones who have money)
gets sufficient funding (doesn’t waste their time and energy working a second job)
has autonomy (no manager who would override or second-guess their decisions)
no unexpected disasters (e.g. getting hit by a bus, patent trolls suing the project,...)
Other than the unexpected disasters, it seems like something that a competent civilization should easily do. Once you have competent people, allow them to demonstrate their competence, look for intersection between what they want to do and what you need (or if you are sufficiently rich, just an intersection between what they want to do and what you believe is a good thing), give them money, and let them work.
In real life, having the right skills and sending the right signals is not the same thing; people who do things are not the same as people who decide things; time is wasted on meetings and paperwork.