In 2023, we had the pleasure of hosting two summits in Zanzibar – one in July and another in November, named the Africa Regenerative Future Summit. These events brought together leading innovators and investors committed to advancing human flourishing, with a specific emphasis on science and technology shaping the trajectory of Africa’s future.

During the inaugural summit in July, Zanzibar’s President, Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, honored us with his presence. In a formal declaration, he publicly expressed the government’s dedication to establishing a digital free zone, a locally-owned Internet infrastructure, and an incubator to support young local innovators – all in collaboration with ThreeFold – and their commitment to the ICT sector as a whole.

The second summit saw the birth of Dunia Yetu (meaning “Our World” in Swahili), a collaborative movement forged in partnership with a cohort of tech developers and innovators from Dar Es Salaam. This initiative is driven by a shared commitment to reshape the digital landscape in Tanzania and Africa. Its goals include empowering coders, fostering economic development, and constructing a sovereign, autonomous digital ecosystem for a more promising digital future.

Looking ahead to 2024, our vision includes a continued series of gatherings focused on OurWorld, ThreeFold, and other projects and individuals prioritizing a planet-first, people-first approach to support Tanzania and the broader African continent.

More information:

• Summit I: Read Zanzibar Seeks to Become a Digital FreeZone (via The Citizen) and Mwinyi Commits to Improvement of Digital Spaces (via Daily News Tanzania) for further details.
• Summit II: Learn more about Dunia Yetu
• Dunia Yetu: Read Sovereign Internet - A game changer for Tanzania (via The Citizen)

🔗Breaking the Distance Barrier

In many regions, the internet economy remains anchored in distant lands due to reliance on long cables to Europe, North America, or China, where colossal data centers reside. This scenario keeps data, jobs, and economic benefits outside developing regions. But what if connectivity was local, decentralized, and efficient?

🔗The East Africa Example

Picture our technology in action. Instead of relying on data centers thousands of miles away, our decentralized infrastructure brings the connection closer. Those friends in East Africa can communicate peer-to-peer, reducing bandwidth needs by up to 10 times while boosting security. This isn’t just about video calls; it’s about revolutionizing every digital interaction.

🔗Streamlining Complexity

The tech world often gets tangled in layers of abstraction, favoring integration over innovation. While layers aid compatibility and incremental progress, they hinder true change. Excessive abstraction results in inefficiencies, performance lags, increased costs, and scalability woes.

🔗The Education Gap

Innovation takes a back seat when education leans heavily on commercial technologies. The push for quick-fix solutions neglects long-term innovation. It’s like opting for a painkiller instead of addressing the root cause of the problem.

🔗Local, Secure, Reliable

Our vision? A decentralized internet where compute, storage, and network are local, sovereign, and secure. Storage becomes more reliable with less overhead, doubling up as a global content delivery network. The network stays resilient, routes around issues, encrypts end-to-end, and knows precisely where data originates and ends.

🔗Tackling the Root Issues

By constructing a decentralized, autonomous internet infrastructure from scratch, we’re tackling these issues head-on. Minimizing complexity while solving problems at their core is our mantra. It’s not just about a tech revolution; it’s about reshaping connectivity to be inclusive, efficient, and empowering for everyone, everywhere.

The digital world stands at a crossroads. We can either perpetuate the status quo, or we can pave a new path—one that’s decentralized, efficient, and equitable. The time for a decentralized internet that solves problems at their roots is now. It’s time for connectivity that knows no boundaries.

The power to transform connectivity is in our hands. Let’s reimagine the internet not as a distant entity but as a network that thrives locally, serves globally, and empowers universally. Together, let’s build a decentralized internet that propels us into a future where connectivity is a right, not a privilege.

At ThreeFold, we believe that everything we do should benefit people and our planet. The emergence of a decentralized Internet grid not only reshapes the digital landscape but helps to pioneer a more sustainable future. At the core of this evolution lies a series of innovative strategies poised to revolutionize the way we perceive and utilize digital infrastructure.

🔗Zero OS

Traditionally, operating systems have been laden with an array of features, consuming substantial hardware resources. However, with Zero OS, our paradigm shifts towards a lightweight, autonomous design. By getting rid of unnecessary complexities, this design not only optimizes hardware space but also fosters an environment conducive to enhanced IT workloads.

🔗Quantum-Safe Storage

One of the most staggering inefficiencies within the industry has been the substantial overhead of storage systems. Our quantum-safe storage system marks a monumental departure from the norm, slashing the overhead from a staggering 400% to a mere fraction, 20%. This unprecedented leap in efficiency heralds a new era of streamlined storage practices, ensuring optimal utilization of resources.

🔗Efficient Node Management

Energy conservation takes center stage with our node management tool, Farmerbot. Embracing the principle of ‘on-demand’ functionality, nodes remain dormant when idle, conserving energy resources. Through the implementation of Farmerbot, these nodes seamlessly power on and off as required, minimizing unnecessary consumption without compromising accessibility.

🔗Automated Autonomy

We’re saying goodbye to human intermediaries and centralized control centers. Our system operates autonomously, governed by smart contracts that orchestrate every facet of its functionality. This automated ecosystem not only eradicates the need for constant human intervention but also ensures streamlined operations, optimizing efficiency at every turn.

🔗Peer-to-Peer Advancement

The conventional route from sender to recipient often travels extensive distances, bouncing through data centers and intermediaries. Our peer-to-peer network revolutionizes this process by forging direct connections, seeking the shortest path between sender and recipient. By circumventing unnecessary detours, this approach minimizes energy expenditure and data latency, elevating both speed and efficiency.

🔗Final Thoughts

The dawn of ThreeFold’s decentralized Internet grid beckons a transformative era in digital infrastructure. Through the combination of a lightweight operating system, quantum-safe storage, energy-conscious node management, automated autonomy, and a peer-to-peer network, the paradigm of efficiency in the digital realm has been redefined. The aggregated result is up-to 90% energy savings depending on workloads. This evolution not only champions sustainability but also propels us towards a future where connectivity thrives in harmony with resource conservation.

🔗The Rise & Fall of Platforms

The world of digital platforms can leave us feeling a bit deflated. We invest time and effort in creating content and building our online presence across platforms, only to see them come and go – either in terms of popularity or existance. Years of efforts can go down the drain in an instant. And the introduction of new platforms means we feel almost pressured to create new profiles yet again. Take Threads, for example, recently released by Meta. I, personally, have not downloaded the app or created a profile myself. Nor do I plan to.

🔗Algorithmic Shifts & Manipulation

Algorithms, like shifting weather, change direction without warning. What used to be familiar suddenly feels like a puzzle we can’t solve. Further, algorithms on social media and other platforms are designed to keep us engaged. They show us content that’s likely to keep us scrolling and clicking. This can lead to addictive behaviors, with us spending more time on platforms than we initially intended.

🔗Platform Redundancy

Why, in this digital age, do we have countless platforms doing essentially the same thing? It’s as if we’re at a party with multiple dance floors, all playing the same music. This fragmented landscape demands our memory’s acrobatics as we juggle passwords, navigate different interfaces, and figure out where our friends are hanging out. A simpler, unified experience seems a distant dream.

🔗Products in a Machine

We pour our creativity and stories into platforms, only to realize we don’t truly own them. Our content, our data, our followers – they belong to the platform. It’s like building a sandcastle at the beach, but it washes away with the tide. The digital space, which once held the promise of empowerment, has subtly transformed us into products within a larger system.

🔗Decentralization: Reclaiming Digital Sovereignty

Imagine a digital world where you’re the true owner of your data and content, where your digital footprint isn’t erased by platform shifts. A space where the power to shape the experience is in your hands, where you’re not a product but a participant in a collaborative journey.

This reimagined Internet isn’t a dream; it’s an evolving reality. Decentralization represents a paradigm shift – a chance to reclaim our digital autonomy. We need to foster an environment where platforms don’t dictate, but rather, serve as tools shaped by the collective. This is a call to action, a reminder that a more inclusive, user-centric Internet is within reach.

The Internet has always been a canvas for human connection and creativity. Let’s paint a picture where we’re not just contributors but true owners, where we’re not lost in a labyrinth but are the architects of our digital landscape. Let’s embrace a decentralized Internet, because we deserve an Internet that truly serves us – the people.

🔗Rising Energy Prices

Energy prices have been on steady rise globally because of increasing costs of energy production, high demand, and the depletion of traditional energy sources such as oil and natural gas as primary drivers. However, the Russian-Western standoff due to the invasion of Ukraine has produced an unprecedented increase in energy prices, especially in Europe.

Some statistics:

• UK - Household energy bills increased by 54% in April 2022, and a further increase of 20% is expected in April 2023.
• USA - Consumers paid 14.3% more for electricity last year on average.
• France - As of February 2023, electricity prices may rise by 15%.

These rising energy costs have a significant impact on the economy, affecting inflation and driving up the cost of goods and services.

🔗Reducing Our Bills & Our Impact on the Environment

Given the increasing cost of energy, it is more important than ever to adopt responsible energy use practices. Simple measures like turning off lights and electronics when not in use, using energy-efficient appliances, and properly insulating homes can make a big difference in reducing energy consumption and lowering bills.

By reducing energy waste, individuals and businesses can not only save money, but also help protect the environment and preserve natural resources for future generations. The world’s energy resources are finite, and the increasing demand for energy is putting pressure on the environment. By adopting responsible energy use practices, we can reduce our carbon footprint, decrease our dependence on non-renewable energy sources, and preserve the planet for future generations.

Saving energy is important for the planet as it can have a positive impact on the environment and the economy. Some of the key benefits of energy conservation are:

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions:
  • By reducing the amount of energy we consume, we also reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by power plants, which are a major contributor to climate change.
• Saves natural resources:
  • Conserving energy helps to conserve our limited natural resources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which are used to generate electricity.
• Lowers energy costs:
  • By using energy more efficiently, we can lower our energy bills, saving money and reducing our overall energy costs.
• Improves energy security:
  • By reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy, we can improve our energy security and reduce the risks associated with energy shortages and price spikes.
• Creates jobs:
  • The development and implementation of energy-efficient technologies and practices can create jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors.

While it has been known for a long time that consuming less energy meant a smaller ecological footprint, most people weren’t very motivated to do so. However, once their wallets started feeling the price increase, people became increasingly aware & careful of their energy consumption. So, in a way, while it is not a great thing for our economies, the rising energy prices are doing a good thing for the planet.

🔗Energy Usage of Nodes

The energy usage of a node in a network depends on various factors such as the type of node, its hardware specifications, and the workload it is handling. Generally, nodes that perform more intensive computations and have more advanced hardware specifications will consume more energy compared to basic nodes.

For example, nodes used in cryptocurrency mining operations are known to consume large amounts of energy due to the intensive computations they perform. On the other hand, simple nodes used for basic network functions such as routing or data storage may consume less energy.

It is important to note that the energy consumption of a node can also be influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, network congestion, and power supply efficiency. By optimizing these factors, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption of a node and minimize its environmental impact.

🔗ThreeFold 3Node Servers

ThreeFold is a decentralized internet infrastructure that utilizes a network of nodes (referred to 3Nodes on our grid) to provide computing resources and data storage. Farmers can farm capacity for the ThreeFold Grid by building their own server and hosting Zero-OS on it, or by buying and running a preconfigured device.

In general, a 3Node cluster is expected to consume less energy compared to traditional server clusters, due to its focus on energy efficiency and sustainability. However, the exact energy usage will depend on the hardware specifications of the nodes, the workload they are handling, and the energy-saving measures implemented. It’s important to note that even a machine with nothing running on top of it consumes energy and brings a cost to farmers.

🔗ThreeFold WOL Feature Comes as Part of Our Farmerbot

Wake-on-LAN (WOL) is a feature in computer hardware that allows a network administrator to power on a computer remotely. The feature works by sending a special “magic packet” to the target computer, which contains the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the network adapter. The network adapter is programmed to recognize the magic packet and use it to initiate the power-on process.

Wake-on-LAN is useful for remotely accessing a computer that is turned off, as it allows the computer to be powered on without physically pressing the power button. This feature is commonly used for remote administration and maintenance tasks, as well as for remotely accessing a computer for work or entertainment purposes.

Wake-on-LAN requires specific hardware and software support, including a network adapter that supports the feature, a motherboard that enables the feature in the BIOS, and an operating system that supports WOL. Additionally, the computer must be connected to a network that supports WOL, and the feature must be enabled in the network adapter’s settings.

The community has been asking for an energy-saving solution for quite a while and we had been looking for one. It took some time, as this was not the only topic that needed our team’s attention, and we had obstacles along the route to designing this solution, including limited funding and needful adjustments.

We had been working on a WOL feature for power-saving set up directly on the chain, but it turned out to be a dead end. Instead of an independent WOL feature, our dev team started from scratch with a new idea! We are now very close to delivering a solution: A Farmerbot that uses WOL to switch nodes on and off when needed!

Farmers will be able to define their configuration in an easy markdown format. The Farmerbot will check which nodes can be turned off or not. Farmers will be able to personalize this feature according to their farm’s own needs and preferences.

🔗Conclusion

Saving energy is crucial for the planet and has numerous positive impacts on the environment, economy, and society. By taking steps to conserve energy, we can help to reduce our environmental impact, lower energy costs, improve energy security, and create jobs in the clean energy sector.

Having a power-saving feature for ThreeFold nodes is one of our priorities. Together with the community, we agree that this is a pressing issue we need to solve. Our main incentive is to respect our engagement to be a sustainable network that puts the planet first. Supporting our farmers to get through difficult times financially is an extra one.

🔗Technology as a tool for humanity

Technology… In today’s world, technology holds a central role. Younger generations in developed countries grow up amidst technological wonders of all sorts, truly immersed in an evolving digital landscape. Any information is a click away, offering immense intellectual capital unlike ever before – and on the other hand, great distraction, misinformation, and potential for division.

Technology is a word dating back to the early 17th century, formed from the Greek tekhnologia meaning ‘systematic treatment,’ itself formed from tekhnē meaning ‘art, craft.’ Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word technology may also mean the product of such an endeavor, as it is mostly used today.

As technologies enter our world they either add on incrementally to already existing technologies (i.e., tablets) or shake everything up (i.e., television). Technology can be found in most industries and at different levels, ranging from vehicles to home appliances, passing through healthcare, education, and even entertainment. Sometimes technology replaces human labor by replicating it, other times it facilitates processes and makes labor less intensive. Some technology even surpasses human precision.

While technology has had an important role in the creation of today’s societies, it might have an even greater role for our future. Two opposite pictures could be painted: a utopia or a dystopia. The utopia of a world full of values-driven, well-constructed technologies promises an increased quality of life for all, with digital tools which, for instance, could provide or enable equal educational opportunities for all, mobility everywhere, a universal basic income and the promise of never having to work again (e.g. in the sense of wage labor).

On the other hand, a dystopia could be the result of reckless technological advancement. Questions are raised, like, will most jobs be dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) in 20 years? Will privacy become a myth, with personal data being controlled by a handful? Will consumerism rule societies and reinforce social struggles?

One technology that has been slowly taking the dystopian route is the Internet. While major Internet and Cloud infrastructure advancements were made since the beginning of the millennium through hyper-scale data centers, the current Internet infrastructure model has many flaws:

• It is centralized: The GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft) own 80% of the global compute, storage and network infrastructures. Also the global infrastructure is concentrated in the U.S in large majority, as well as Europe and China.

• It is inefficient: Most of the data centers are located in the U.S, forcing the rest of the world to connect via Internet sea cables and having their data flowing outside of their borders and back.

• It is not scalable: Emerging technologies require the global Internet infrastructure to triple in size in the next 4 years. It took 20+ years to build the current Internet infrastructure. So, we need to build 3 times more in 5 times less time.

• It is not affordable: It costs billions of dollars and enormous amounts of energy and time to build, manage and productize hyper-scale data centers. Only the richest countries in the world build data centers and the rest of the world become their clients.

• It is not private: Anyone can access Google Chrome or Facebook for free. But as outlined by movies such as the Social Dilemma or The Great Hack, if it is free, you are the product. The web’s Ad model is threatening our privacy and the net neutrality of the global internet.

• It is not secure: The current IT stack depends on human error and it has been considered as the major cause of cybersecurity breaches with more than 95% of the cases. Human errors allow attackers to access encrypted channels and sensitive information

• It is not sustainable: Data centers are extremely power hungry, consuming over 2 trillion gigabytes of storage and consuming around 205 TWh - More than the State of New York. According to statistics, the Internet consumes between 10-20% of global energy resources.

• It cannot support future demand: To meet projected demand for 2022, more than 4,000 new data centers, costing an estimated $5 trillion, will be needed to build and consume an additional 400 GW/h. This is roughly equivalent to Japan’s energy consumption and would place an impossible strain on the global electricity grid. The rising demand for Internet storage is already causing hardware shortages and price hikes.

At ThreeFold, we want to encourage the creation of a utopian future driven by thoughtful technology. Our founders took part in the way the Internet was created, full of beautiful promises, and have seen first-hand how those promises have been corrupted throughout its evolution. By building a new Internet infrastructure from scratch, ThreeFold goes back to those original promises while having learnt from the development mistakes.

Kristof, our CEO, wrote in a blog:

“The Internet allows the expansion of our village life to become a global community. It allows us to act as a global tribe with all information at our fingertips, it offers the possibility to get equal access to all planet resources. It has the promise for global free communication, instant availability of information, unlimited opportunities for growth and education. But what happened to our Beautiful Internet?”

“The Internet allowed us to become more efficient in depriving mother earth from her resources. It allowed us to become more addicted to immediate gratification, examples are social media networks and the adult entertainment industry. Beautiful new possibilities like digital currencies became a gambling game and a source of wealth for the smartest hackers. The communication capabilities of the Internet allowed the few to manipulate the many.”

By putting people, planet and authenticity at the core of the development of our technology, we want to gift societes a remade internet. Features of this technology include sovereignty & decentralization, security & privacy, unlimited scalability, green & self healing properties, cost effectiveness, and reliability. The human is put at the center of our Internet model.

Technology should not be a tool to extort humanity, but one at the service of humanity.