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Ethical supply chain is an idea whose time has come, and blockblockchain chain technology is the enabling technology that makes it practical. And,Furthermore, it isn't at the low trust end of the trust spectrum withthe designsway likethat Bitcoin thatis. That is an important fordistinction in regards to these applications. MaybeIt youis best to start with a baseline that youcan offerbe offered to anyone thatwith youwhom haveone nodoes relationshipnot with,have a relationship, but the context willneeds to be one of relationship building,building. andThe theblockchain block chain can track it all securely; it can be designed as a context for trust building. Commons basedBased productionPeer Production (CBPP), in generalgeneral, iscreates athe context offor trust building, and a supply chain commons iscreates exactly this sort of context that will benefit from these features.
There are a number of players looking at this space, but I think it is critical that all of us pool our efforts to produce a body of code, practices and operational facilities that can address the complexity and fluidity in this space. There is plenty of complexity to goaroundaround, and work for an entire ecosystem of companies and institutions each focused on areas of expertise and capacity. The focus on ethics starts with economic ethics; thereforetherefore, this commons has to be designed to be systematically resistant to rent seeking and monopoly. The tools we deploy for producers can enable producers to route around rent seeking middle-menmiddlemen and make fair trade values visible in the supply chain.
By creative use of more specifically designed crypto-currencies, these values can even be expressed in markets where the producers on supply chains can coordinate their production with their partners up and down the chain.Sure,The IoTInternet alsoof givesThings opportunities(IoT) allows one to actually track the details as parts are supplied to the producers of composite products. That's only one of the more obvious parts of the process, since the big possibility is what can be described as a magic supply chain.
Onceyouone havehas a whole network of producers who are connected in dynamic, "smart" markets, something completely new becomes possible. Imagine now that there is also a commons for open product designs, or one that is priviledged as a steward for products developed with public and donated funds. A smart supply chain is one that can self-organize to produce products from commons based designs, patents and production research.
The relationships between the design commons and the producers can start at the prototype phase. Probably a different set oflowlow-volume volume producers would produce components and sub-assemblies based on designs emerging in the commons. When the designs reach release quality, production can scale up fueled by growing orders,orders. andProducers producers can respond to market signals throughout the process and implement advanced supply chain governance tools using the high quality and timely data building in the blockblockchain. chain.
The more automation and using AI to augment human markets, the more magic this network will be able to produce. Today many economists think that markets are the answer to everything, but along the way they abandoned the classical economic concerns for rent-seeking and monopoly. If technology in a commons of production can reduce market parasitics to an acceptable level, markets can become efficient enough to address the monopoly power of largefirmsfirms, and markets can function as the classical economists claimed they should.
The Magic Supply Chain is in a sense just a projection of classic economic theory with one difference. The markets themselves are considered and governed collectively, as a commons of production. Market function isn't to create the stability needed, if necessary, markets need to be regulated not to fail. This regulation is a function of commons governance, not the magic of the market. Market magic is what we introduced above; technology such that when orders are placed for a new design, whether commons based or private IP, the producers as a network can see that and immediately begin to coordinate production. The orders and sub-assemblies may already be on the chains before the design is even finalized, and deliveries can happen soon after the design prints are ready to make.
There are a number of players looking at this space, but I think it is critical that all of us pool our efforts to produce a body of code, practices and operational facilities that can address the complexity and fluidity in this space. There is plenty of complexity to go
By creative use of more specifically designed crypto-currencies, these values can even be expressed in markets where the producers on supply chains can coordinate their production with their partners up and down the chain.
Once
The relationships between the design commons and the producers can start at the prototype phase. Probably a different set of
The more automation and using AI to augment human markets, the more magic this network will be able to produce. Today many economists think that markets are the answer to everything, but along the way they abandoned the classical economic concerns for rent-seeking and monopoly. If technology in a commons of production can reduce market parasitics to an acceptable level, markets can become efficient enough to address the monopoly power of large
The Magic Supply Chain is in a sense just a projection of classic economic theory with one difference. The markets themselves are considered and governed collectively, as a commons of production. Market function isn't to create the stability needed, if necessary, markets need to be regulated not to fail. This regulation is a function of commons governance, not the magic of the market. Market magic is what we introduced above; technology such that when orders are placed for a new design, whether commons based or private IP, the producers as a network can see that and immediately begin to coordinate production. The orders and sub-assemblies may already be on the chains before the design is even finalized, and deliveries can happen soon after the design prints are ready to make.