The alliance of “Distributed Models”

Let’s start with a question: What Renewable Energies, Blockchain and Sociocracy do have deeply in common? If all of them are progressively gaining traction in this beginning of 21st century as their simultaneous and fast adoption may represent a substantial hope to seriously face climate change challenges, fight poverty and build a more peaceful and fairer world. The most important - to my opinion - is that behind these 3 notions there is the same new philosophical background proposing “Distributed Models” as a plausible alternative to our dominating outdated centralized management models.

But like all concepts authentically new, they need to find their way between two extremes: The “Hype” putting them everywhere becoming new ideologies claiming to solve everything while supposedly eradicating the past and present based on some irrational Buzz. And on the opposite side, an intense rejection precisely become they are radically new, not proven and so different from what we usually know. Idriss Aberkane mentioned that radical innovative ideas always pass through the following sequence: They first appear as Ridiculous, then as Dangerous, and finally as Obvious. Where do we stand today regarding the adoption of “Distributed Models” solutions?

Are “Distributed models” Ridiculous?

If you are part of the people that are not convinced that centralized models are no longer adapted to solve our contemporary challenges. You might nevertheless agree that we will probably not solve all our new problems by insisting in doing more of what we already know doesn’t work.

Let’s consider the Electricity Sector, in which Grid infrastructures as we know them – with centralized power production and transmission systems – are simply not agile enough and will not be able to cope with the new demand, neither structurally nor financially. The funding gap for grid infrastructures should reach around $3 trillion in the next 20 years (to face a doubling global electricity consumption during the same period), power outages are already becoming more frequent, especially in countries with a deficit of infrastructure investment or where economic development is accelerating. As an example, on average, US grid users are now exposed to 8 hours of power outages every year compared to 3.5 hours in 2012. Early in October of this year, P&GE had to implement safety power shut-offs to prevent wildfires. Close to 800,000 users were left without electricity for several days. That event triggered a vast debate in California and across the United States on the need to deploy alternative solutions to a centralized grid. Similarly, emerging and fast-growing countries are exploring ways to Leapfrog the Electricity Sector by using Distributed Energies Resources (Renewable energies, Storage, EV, Microgrids etc) from the beginning (which doesn’t exclude the need to invest in reliable and efficient Grid infrastructure).

Are “Distributed models” Dangerous?

If you are concerned about the fact that radical changes generally bring lots of unexpected issues. Which is a perfectly normal reaction as human being’s brain is wired to see the risks faster and clearer than the opportunities (and our specie did quite well in surviving so far, right?). You might also agree that between simply accepting or rejecting “Disrupted Models” innovations, there might be a reasonable path, good and safe enough, to experiment (especially if it could allow to drastically improve public good).

Let’s have a look at some examples of public value outcomes “Distributed Models” could bring. Blockchain technology founded in 2008, essentially consisting in a shared digital ledger that records transactions and stores data in a transparent, decentralized way, is a powerful tool to generate public good in sector such as healthcare, financial inclusion, aid, and democracy and governance. The four key benefits provided by Blockchain are transparency, immutability, lower costs, and digital identity. Here some concrete applications: A transparent record of donations could help an aid industry in which 30% of all disaster relief money is lost. The “immutable” feature of blockchain might help guard against election fraud, since every transaction is permanent and cannot be altered after the fact. In financial sector blockchain could contribute to build a credit system for the 2 billion “unbanked” people worldwide who still lack basic financial services. Also, blockchain is likely to have a large, immediate impact on the way people transfer money. Foreign workers worldwide send an estimated $500 billion worth of remittances back to their home countries each year. By eliminating transactional middlemen, blockchain systems can help workers transfer a higher percentage of their savings directly to family members. The fact that you could put money directly into people’s hands, bypassing intermediaries and avoiding large-scale graft, is a huge opportunity for hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Are “Distributed Models” Obvious?

If you are convinced that “Distributed Models” are fantastic and unprecedent contributors to shape a better collective future. If you’re even already committed and engaged in advocating for a faster and much larger adoption of such radical innovations, you might also agree that the speed of adoption remains particularly limited when it comes to “Disrupted Governance Models”.

While “Modern Democracies” 150 years ago contributed to partially decentralize countries governance by delegating more power and autonomy to people, we nowadays see more and more people pointing the “Legitimacy Gap” of those representation models (Yellow Vest, 99% occupy wall street, “Nuit debout”, Podemo etc) as they have been designed so far. So why would 99% of the human population not quickly adopt innovations such as sociocracy (created in the 70’), deliberative democratic practices, ranked choices elections and many other innovations in that field. These practices will further empower people further and transcend the long-lasting centralized government dilemma consisting in choosing between effectiveness or fairness.

The reality is that understanding and accepting Individually “Distributed Models” is anything but obvious because as human being we are deeply “trapped” into our “Centralized Model” glasses. Indeed, we are the slowest mammal species when it comes to reach individual (adult) autonomy. Since birth, we spend years relying on the (Central) supervision of parents to simply survive. As such heteronomy (reverse of autonomy) is precisely what makes us feel good and protected since millions of years.

So, what should we do?

Our main challenge when it comes to “Distributed Models” adoption is about culture. Lucidity imposes us to acknowledge our own “Immunity to change”. We the People, naturally feel insecure in exploring more autonomy and “Distributed Governance Models”. Ironically, as we are framed to appreciate and feel protected by “Centralized Models” it appears that, at the system level, those centralized systems are the most vulnerable (the more a system is centralized the less it is protected from cyber-attacks and corruption risks).

As someone said: “The shorted path between two points is not the straight line but imagination”. It is now time to invent new ways of advocating and experimenting “Distributed Models” AND feeling safe enough (the more power you have the less secure you might feel in engaging in that journey).

An idea here could be to join forces and build the "Distributed Models Alliance” to better explain and advocate on their benefits and also help multiplying opportunities for people to experiment them. This would make a lot of sense as all these models are somehow interdependent. As an example, implementing blockchain requires extensive coordination and trust in the network. Some of the most pressing questions have to do with initiatives in democracy and government. (Estonia uses blockchain to offer a range of public services, and there is a growing crop of programs worldwide to help with crowdfunding, legal support, press freedom, and voting).

Do you want to join the “Distributed Models” Alliance? Which type of initiatives should we connect together ?

Please do not hesitate to let me know your thoughts.

Disclaimer: This article reflects my personal opinion. Content is based on public articles and data at the best of my knowledge. If anything, here is inaccurate, please feel free to contact me directly. I will update accordingly.