The original plan was to map OFN to Biomimicry Life’s principles and show how OFN uses nature’s unifying patterns to self organise food production and distribution. Emerging technology made this approach redundant though and I started modelling from scratch. What I ended up with was a Biomimetically sound, blockchain based, collaborative production, distribution and transparent participatory governance system which I called HIPS - Holonic Integrated Produce/Production Swarms.
Here is the submission video and the concept document:
HIPS was selected as one of 7 finalists in the challenge and @ampie and I will be presenting it at SXSW-eco in Austin, Texas next month.
I am putting it out here as I feel that HIPS could potentially solve two issues, namely governance and decentralisation of OFN. It is purely conceptual at this stage but I am confident that funding will be forthcoming following the good exposure we will be getting through the Biomimicry Foundation’s press releases and airtime at SXSW. It will require the current platform to be decommissioned eventually but that would be a few years away and consider that it would have filled critical capacity and user base building by that time as well as initiated the food system transformation we so desperately seek.
Whoooooooo, I LOVE that, that is so awesome @lawrence!!! I will read very carefully your whole document, but I already love the concept, and I definitely see our vision, and share it Beautiful Can we start sharing it? I know quite a lot of people who will be interested to learn about it!!! Congratulation, and please let us know what are the next stage and how we can support!!!
Wow thats just too awesome!! Watching that video took me back to four years
ago, wandering around barefoot in the bush, thinking about food
distribution and pondering “if mycellial networks can do this we can learn
to do it”. Our image on first very dodgy eaterprises website was a slime
mold because i was fascinated by how they come together and actually form a
completely different but temporary structure so they can move to where
there is food, then dissipate again. Love it
It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of this thing and a growing group of
people evolving it to take on shapes and forms that we could 'feel calling’
but barely glimpse at the start of the journey.
We’ll be at the farm this weekend, so I’ll go wandering through that same
bit of bush pondering HIPS - look forward to learning / seeing more. You’re
all awesome, and go @lawrence and team :)!!!
Also quite jealous that you get to go to SWSX - will ping some USA people
to this in case they’re already going or might do so to come and meet you
@rohanm@oeoeaio@maikel@eric@theresas@mikel (sending this from email on
phone so may need to check / re-ping them!)
Very exciting! I love how we are all being magnetized towards this movement just at a time when the Arab Spring kind of Jump-started global consciousness and Community Organization (again) and when the technology to implement these types of applications is so facile that there’s someone in nearly every (educated) community that can do it.
We won’t make it to Austin this year, but if you are interested in coming to Pensacola, Florida - 10 hours South-east, there would be some interest. Thank you all for this great work.
Thanks @MyriamBoure. I thought you might enjoy it. You are welcome to start sharing it among friends but it should stay out of the press until the official announcement on the 30’th of September as per Biomimicry Foundation’s request.
If the community feels this is something we could get behind, we can discuss next steps and actions here or in a hangout at some point
@Kirsten, whenever I present OFN I use it as an example of how absurd and detrimental patents and IP is as a concept. As @MikeiLL pointed out, we had the same idea at the same time all over the world. No idea exists in isolation and the required solutions inevitably unfold in a collaborative manner.
I don’t think I will make it to Florida Mike. Our schedule is very tight but thanks for the invite.
I just got back from SXSWEco which, much to my dismay, I found to be largely a corporate greenwashing event. I’ll spare you the details but I realised we have a lot of work to do.
@MyriamBoure, I share your sense of urgency around the need for open and participatory governance and I do feel that blockchain technology makes this possible while at the same time affording us the means to transition to a non debt based currency of our own making.
Some good news is that HIPS is in the prototype round of the BM design challenge and as such we continue to get good exposure and credibillity which will help with funding. We have a year in which to source funding and develop the prototype. I do feel thatHIPS could be the 3’rd generation OFN platform and would like to see what you guys think about OFN being involved.
Ultimately HIPS is an open value network platform which will easily extend across other industry verticals as well and will enable true value exchange and community governance outside of the current economical hierarchies. The picture starts with food but is much larger.
Quick question after reading the business case: Who is the first customer, and which pain are you solving for him/her?
I’m not trying to criticize, just think that systemic changes have to be done by powerful players because habits are very expensive to change.
Could you paint a picture where you infiltrate a current industry similar to “low-end disruption” ( Christensen, The innovator’s dilemma ) and then throw it over?
Beautiful 