Hello world,
Just a quick introduction as I want to share with you a piece of the vision that I have for a new system. I wrote this for an assignment back in July 2019. Since then I have been digging into many aspects of the project to gain as much knowledge as I can to drive it further, through personal research, a PhD and eventually an entrepreneurial venture. But it's been over a year that this is on my mind and I'm still struggling to make it my main occupation. Right now I'm convinced that I must start by sharing it and continue building on it as things evolve.
I've been thinking for too long how to present this in a more professional way. But who cares about the "professional" way when the goal is beyond my little self and my professional career? And while time is ticking, I was too obsessed with things to be perfectly neat. Do more research, give it a proper name, launch a proper website, create the social media channels for the community, get in touch with potential partners, etc. And you know what happens when you obsess about perfection? You procrastinate... And as I got more and more ideas, I also got less and less energy to start doing anything!
So here I am now, I decided to focus on describing the idea and ways to get organized to allow everyone to contribute in building it. I will start with all my drafts and then work on them for more elaborated versions.
I'm sending it out as draft as it is, because I know now that putting myself out in the public as raw will only make me go on, be and do better. I've learned that sharing the things we want to hide most brings benefits to everyone. So here we go, I'll start through, and eventually WITH, this beautiful online global community.
Most importantly, this is for all of us so it should come from all of us.
PS: Be The Change (BTC for my bitcoiners ;) ) - the name is already taken by another great initiative
PSS: Remember I wrote this for an assignment with words count limit for each section so some aspects are really to be expressed further
OK now done with the "quick" introduction. Here we go:
Executive summary
Today's most challenging environmental issues, such as climate change and waste pollution, stem from our modern lifestyle and consumption behaviors. Be The Change is an ecosystem to facilitate the transition into a more sustainable and more ethical consumption model, by introducing a new token system and a new market place for Sustainable Development.
Consumers gaining awareness about the sometimes dramatic social and environmental impacts of certain products, want to be more responsible in their consumption and choice of products. So they seek products that provide a positive impact, or at least products that monitor their impact to improve it. On the other side, many producers and resellers are also seeking to be more responsible in their supply, their production, and their packaging. They aim to meet the sustainability standards, often associated with transformation and increased costs for their businesses. However, this growing market is still in the making. Many new sustainable brands haven't yet gained the exposure they deserve or delivered the return on investment they expect. Finally, consortiums, private or public institutions, and corporations, involved in sustainable development lack a common ground to share, improve, regulate, and leverage sustainable development activities and practices.
Be The Change will be the meeting point for these players. It is here to establish the right environment, bringing together a community of responsible consumers, responsible producers, and resellers and finally, public and private institutions, to leverage sustainably-developed and ethically-sourced consumer goods. It is a marketplace and a community-based innovation and investment ecosystem enabled by a set of incentives based on its tokens system. Therefore, three kinds of tokens will power it: first, a stable coin, called "money" token backed by FIAT currency; second, a utility token, called "action" token valued by its market; and finally, a security token, called "invested" token, for investment capabilities. The main idea here is that "action" tokens are only generated by actions. They are first issued by activities related to the operation of the network like block rewards. This will guarantee the scarcity of “action” tokens and most importantly make sure they are valued correctly. The different players of the ecosystem will have the ability to set the conditions for earning "action" tokens. Once earned, they could then be exchanged for "money" tokens or "invested" tokens, or any other currency on the appropriate exchange platforms. For example, a brand involved in stopping plastic pollution can launch a rewarding challenge for beach clean-ups or recycling efforts, verified with solutions to cover the last mile problem. Or, a public institution sets a reward for every company meeting specific criteria in their sustainability efforts.
From the business strategy point of view, Be The change adopts a value chain strategy. Instead of competing directly with existing market places, it will focus on delivering the best value for users seeking to improve their consumption behaviors. So it will partner with as many players as possible to allow existing products and services to be integrated or interoperable with the platform. For example, services, products, or reviews from other platforms such as Amazon or OpenBazaar will be accessible through Be The Change platform. The competitiveness of the platform is in its mission, and the willingness of the users to settle their purchases with "money" tokens and "action" tokens, on Be The Change's market place or other digital market places through gateways.
Problem statement
In a world where individuals are more and more concerned about environmental issues, sustainable development is becoming a significant component in decision making for suppliers, consumers and related institutions. This awareness has brought new products and services based on sustainability principles. From fashion to food, people are demanding eco-friendly and socially-responsible products. For example, we can find new categories of recyclable, products such as bamboo toothbrushes, metallic straws, bio-degradable packages, sugar cane materials, organic detergents, etc.
We see new sustainable development initiatives rising every day, but there is no appropriate platform for consumers who are seeking sustainable products to find them and transform their consumption behavior into a more eco-friendly and socially-responsible one. Even when consumers find these products, they have to trust the suppliers with their sustainability claims. This is also a problem for suppliers because they put so much effort into making their production sustainable, but they don't always have the means to prove it. Finally, a point we should be collectively aiming to address is: how do we accelerate the establishment of sustainable development and better consumer behavior? With blockchain technology, tokens, and smart contracts, Be The Change provides the infrastructure for a network of diverse players, not only to facilitate access to verified sustainable solutions through a p2p marketplace, but also to allow investment in new ventures opened for participants of the network with equity tokens.
Outline of vision
For sustainable development to gain more ground in a world that needs it like no time before, we need to set in place the right environment, with the right incentives for all players to take action. Be The Change has made this its mission. Powered by blockchain technology, Be The Change brings the tools to reduce the cost of verification and the cost of networking while providing an infrastructure to incentivize people for better behavior. The whole concept is based on prioritizing action over money in our transactions. In this direction, Be The Change introduces a tokens system built on the possibility to use a portfolio of mixed assets: "money" tokens, "action" tokens and "invested" tokens, acquired in different ways. So to start, Be The Change will be similar to a classic market place, only specialized for sustainable development products, with an ecosystem of producers, suppliers, and institutions of this field. The users will be able to buy sustainable products on the market place and settle all their transactions from their mixed portfolio, with advantages when prioritizing the use of “action” tokens. With its value chain strategy, the platform will integrate all available classic services of digital market places to provide the best service towards its users in their pursuit of more responsible consumption. It provides value to its partners by fostering sustainable development.
In the launch phase of Be The Change, we ideally imagine launching an ICO for “money” tokens and the amount of liquid money raised will be met with the same amount of investment from institutions willing to invest in the ecosystem according to specific terms of an agreement that will allow enough liquidity to build the ecosystem. On the other hand, "action" tokens will be distributed to people who sign up to the platform and provide proof of recognizable efforts in support of sustainable development activities. We will work closely with existing suppliers, producers, and institutions involved in sustainable development, to set in place the first incentives to attract the users. Bringing on board institutions and celebrities who will lead the way by being the first to adopt the spirit of Be The Change, would be the best starter for the platform.
Blockchain technology solution
To achieve its mission, Be The Change will build a decentralized marketplace for all the players involved in sustainable products development.
First, the suppliers and resellers of sustainable products will benefit from a shared marketplace and gain more visibility and market shares. Be The Change will provide these players with a set of solutions that will allow them to offer more transparency to their clients and to showcase their environmental and social responsibility along their product lines.
Second, consumers will use Be The Change to access a broader catalog of available sustainable solutions. It will help them transition into more responsible consumption behavior and lifestyle while allowing them to invest in their favorite brands and support sustainability initiatives.
Third, environmental and social impact entrepreneurs will gain access to proven business models and sustainability techniques. They can establish agreements with existing businesses to benefit from their experience through knowledge transfer schemes or affiliation and mentorship schemes.
Finally, Be The Change will count on the involvement and contribution of public and private institutions in activities such as investment, business support, standards establishment and certification, law endorsement, and solutions implementation. They will be the catalysts for the ecosystem to grow and prosper.
An incentivizing reward system will allow users of Be The Change to earn “action” tokens when they accomplish achievements on the network. For example, recycling a product as per the supplier’s plan for it is considered an accomplishment for which the participants will be rewarded in “action” tokens. Another example of earning “action” tokens is when users promote sustainable products. Just like affiliate marketing, if a new transaction is generated thanks to the promotion efforts of a participant, they will be rewarded in “action” tokens by the final beneficiary of the transaction generated. The user who earned “action” tokens can use them in the network to buy products or invest in ventures, or they redeem them in “money” tokens or FIAT currency. Another feature of the “action” token is how it serves as a measure of count for a reputation system. For instance, the transaction of “action” tokens creates a certificate for the receiver stating their achievement when the tokens are earned and not purchased. A scoring system will be associated with these achievements.
The four choices for entrepreneurial strategy:
As stated in the above section, the customers of Be The Change are all the players of the ecosystem. So mainly the customers are: suppliers and producers of sustainable products, consumers of these products, new entrepreneurs in this field, investors, regulators and lawmakers.
Be The Change will either run on its own blockchain, or be implemented on top of a blockchain that allows the development for all its features. Even if in a first phase, Be The Change could eventually be implemented on top of existing infrastructure to accelerate the deployment, the migration to an independent blockchain would ultimately offer more flexibility, scalability, and security. To ensure high speed and scalability capabilities while maintaining low fees and preserving the security of the network, a DPoS would be most probably the best consensus for the purpose. The only concern is regarding the election of block producers be it a native blockchain or an existing one.
Another important feature of Be The Change is the integration and interoperability with existing market place solutions; either blockchain-based such as Origami Network, Ink protocol, OpenBazzar, or classic digital market places such as Amazon and social media market places such as Facebook’s market place.
Be The Change is an ecosystem with a strong Sustainable Development identity. Its whole success relies on the willingness of its users to embrace change in their consumption behavior and to support change by using the platform for buying sustainable products, promoting them and investing in the ventures that allow spreading the change.
The competitors of Be The Change are other digital market places like Amazon, eBay, Alibaba
or even social media market places like Facebook. However, the focus on sustainable development is a major differentiator, along with all the features allowed and provided by the ecosystem and innovation hub.
Digital ecosystem and token distribution:
In the launch phase of Be The Change, we imagine launching an ICO for "money" tokens and the amount of liquid money raised will be met with the same amount of investment from institutions willing to invest in the ecosystem according to specific terms of an agreement that will allow enough liquidity to build the ecosystem. On the other hand, "action" tokens will be distributed to people who sign up to the platform and provide proof of recognizable efforts in support of sustainable development activities. We will work closely with existing suppliers, producers, and institutions involved in sustainable development, to set in place the first incentives to attract the users. Ideally, we will bring on board celebrities who will lead the way by being the first to adopt the spirit of Be The Change.
The last mile:
The business model relies on the fact that we are providing an infrastructure on which companies can build solutions to their last-mile problem with our guidance when needed. To solve the last mile problem, we will foster innovation and create an ecosystem for developers and organizations that look to improve their transparency with the technologies at hand, such as IoT and AI. For example, video authentication techniques such as digital signature-based techniques or watermark based techniques could help in authenticating video content that would serve as proof for specific recorded actions. Ready to use modular software solutions linking surveillance cameras or mobile cameras with the blockchain will be made available to be implemented by the users and integrated with other solutions such as computer vision recognition algorithms to provide required verification and authentication.
Special considerations/concluding remarks:
For Be The Change to succeed, it must rely on a strong community of change-makers and an iterative process towards an extensive ecosystem of players and innovative solutions. It is also essential to have a solid framework for developers to easily create, share and integrate tools allowing costless verification and solving the last mile problem. Finally, institutions can effectively use Be The Change to help them set standards and incentives to drive sustainable development. Their involvement is eventually THE major key to solve today’s environmental and social challenges.
