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New and radical forms of ownership, governance, entrepreneurship, and financialization are needed to fight pervasive economic inequality.
This proposition is intended as a provocation—to stimulate productive controversy and debate—and does not necessarily represent the views of the Open Society Foundations. Applicants are invited to dispute, substantiate, or otherwise engage with the proposition in their submissions. Though the proposition deals with economic issues, those without an economics or business background are welcome to apply, provided they have a relevant project in mind.
Proposed summary/description: Blockchain Inspired Data-structures Supporting New Modes of Production, Peer2Peer and More. Distributed governance/production of everything from cell-phones to democracy.
We are at a second major paradigm shift of the internet age. The first is the still unfolding web technologies, and the second can be loosely grouped under the heading blockchain, but it is much more than digital or crypto-currencies. These technologies are transformative to the extent that they can successfully bridge and enhance connections and transactions that extend beyond the digital world. The transformation becomes possible because of how cryptologically based distributed data structures can implement distributed control and governance structures. DAOs in the lingo, distributed autonomous organizations, or commons based peer production (CBPP) as new ways to organize production.
I have two contrasting examples that help me think about how commons based productions might be organized. One is the production of democracy, or more generally governance. In the commons shared by all producers and interest groups would be data and dialog. Data about common goals of maximal participation. Under current rules this is about maximizing citizen registration and participation in the vote, and also the process of chosing candidates for the ballot. Certainly the current rules, the law and our representatives are "in the commons", so in the long run, we the people produce these too. If we are to have more direct democracy, or more governance by meritorious experts, the systems to implement these are in the commons.
The second example would mean a distributed production network based on a commons of design. Buckmister Fuller talked of a "Universal Design Science", which is something we could expand on for the benefit of all. The chained data information system would track what designs and ideas are used in each supply chain in detail for each component and subsystem of all kinds of products. The transaction data itself is a commons that can be mined for ways to make the supply chain more efficient, to route around rent-seekers in the chain. The point is that these technologies can be a game changer for very diverse kinds of activities. By careful design of supporting currency systems, incentives and markets can create self-regulating growth and a lot of shared wealth.
I remain a skeptic, this shift can support more democratic and equitable forms in economics and politics, but they could also be turned into tools of further oppression. We don't know what forms will emerge good or bad. We can work to design and implement the solutions with the best potential and use the data capabilities of the new systems to measure their performance. This also points to ways the attention from diverse specialists could contribute value to the commons, particularly if the use value of their contributions is also recognized in system currencies. We can implement a platform for researce and experimentation that will reward entrepreneurial successes.
New and radical forms of ownership, governance, entrepreneurship, and financialization are needed to fight pervasive economic inequality.
Proposed summary/description: Blockchain Inspired Data-structures Supporting New Modes of Production, Peer2Peer and More. Distributed governance/production of everything from cell-phones to democracy.
We are at a second major paradigm shift of the internet age. The first is the still unfolding web technologies, and the second can be loosely grouped under the heading blockchain, but it is much more than digital or crypto-currencies. These technologies are transformative to the extent that they can successfully bridge and enhance connections and transactions that extend beyond the digital world. The transformation becomes possible because of how cryptologically based distributed data structures can implement distributed control and governance structures. DAOs in the lingo, distributed autonomous organizations, or commons based peer production (CBPP) as new ways to organize production.
I have two contrasting examples that help me think about how commons based productions might be organized. One is the production of democracy, or more generally governance. In the commons shared by all producers and interest groups would be data and dialog. Data about common goals of maximal participation. Under current rules this is about maximizing citizen registration and participation in the vote, and also the process of chosing candidates for the ballot. Certainly the current rules, the law and our representatives are "in the commons", so in the long run, we the people produce these too. If we are to have more direct democracy, or more governance by meritorious experts, the systems to implement these are in the commons.
The second example would mean a distributed production network based on a commons of design. Buckmister Fuller talked of a "Universal Design Science", which is something we could expand on for the benefit of all. The chained data information system would track what designs and ideas are used in each supply chain in detail for each component and subsystem of all kinds of products. The transaction data itself is a commons that can be mined for ways to make the supply chain more efficient, to route around rent-seekers in the chain. The point is that these technologies can be a game changer for very diverse kinds of activities. By careful design of supporting currency systems, incentives and markets can create self-regulating growth and a lot of shared wealth.
I remain a skeptic, this shift can support more democratic and equitable forms in economics and politics, but they could also be turned into tools of further oppression. We don't know what forms will emerge good or bad. We can work to design and implement the solutions with the best potential and use the data capabilities of the new systems to measure their performance. This also points to ways the attention from diverse specialists could contribute value to the commons, particularly if the use value of their contributions is also recognized in system currencies. We can implement a platform for researce and experimentation that will reward entrepreneurial successes.