Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come 1 Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come Edited by Jonathan Bone & Christopher Haley Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come 2 Acknowledgements The creation of this collection was truly a collaborative effort and there are a lot of people whose hard work has made this possible. We are extremely grateful to this project’s panel of advisors, Lawrence Lundy-Bryan, Rob van Kranenburg, Alice Casey and Katja Bejo, who played an invaluable role as judges for the essay competition as well as giving invaluable feedback on early drafts of the finalist’s essays. Special thanks goes to each of the ten writers whose essays are featured in this collection, many of whom have worked on this in their spare time on weekends and evenings. Thanks are also due to everyone at Nesta who offered their help and feedback over the past couple of months, and to Joana Pereira for her wonderful design work on this publication. Finally, our thanks to everyone who participated in the open call. About Nesta Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society. Nesta is based in the UK and supported by a financial endowment. We work with partners around the globe to bring bold ideas to life to change the world for good. If you’d like this publication in an alternative format such as Braille or large print, please contact us at: [email protected]. September 2020 Design: Joana Pereira Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SCO42833. Registered office: 58 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DS. Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come 3 Contents Introduction 4 Why Decentralisation Matters 8 Blockchain: The Last, Best Hope for Open Data Kevin Werbach 17 DAO: Mismatch of Technology and Objectives Grace (Rebecca) Rachmany 23 How DAOs Can Revive Local Communities Rhian Lewis 30 The Web of Commons: Rethinking the Status Quo from the Data Up Karissa McKelvey 35 Cooperation Across Difference Jack Henderson 41 How the Blockchain’s Internet of Transactions Can Ensure a New Contract with Nature Michel Bauwens 46 The Illusion of Blockchain Democracy: One Coin Equals One Vote Dionysis Zindros 52 The Future Is a Safe And Dark Web: This is What It Will Look Like Joshua D. Tobkin 57 Taking the Power Back Ziri Rideaux and Brendan Miller 63 Earth 2030 Primavera De Filippi and Tony Lai 69 The Decentralised Future essay competition 74 Endnotes 75 Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come 4 Introduction Human civilisation is, in large part, a In addition, by providing lower-friction ways story about human organisation. From of bringing people together, enabling their hunter-gatherer bands to nation states, input and rewarding their effort, these our societies have been fundamentally organisational forms present novel means shaped by the organisational forms we of value creation and resource distribution.1 have adopted; whether that be democratic They may also enable more flexible forms of government or dictatorship, army battalion governance, offering a solution to some of the or resistance movement, worker cooperative numerous ‘problems of the commons’ which or multinational corporation. Organisational afflict humankind. structures have typically developed as a means of tackling specific problems, such These are grand ideas which this as speeding up decision-making or ensuring collection is intended to illustrate and resources are distributed fairly among group explain. The featured essays expand on members; however, it is clear that those we how decentralised technology will affect have developed to date are inadequate society, organisations and people, and they when managing common-pool resources explore decentralisation through many like our environment. Our future will thus different lenses – from what it means for be determined, to a great extent, by how democracy to how it could help transform effectively we can design organisational our relationship with nature. The writers forms which deal with the challenges ahead. include a diverse range of people: academics, lawyers, developers, entrepreneurs, activists This collection of essays discusses new and artists; and while the essays are intended organisational forms which are emerging, to illustrate the potential of blockchain and enabled by digital technologies like other decentralising technologies, the report blockchain. These organisations are allowing also includes several contrarian views. people to self-organise and collaborate as part of decentralised networks. Such We hope the collection will be of interest decentralised networks have several novel to innovators, policymakers, investors features, perhaps the most important of which and anyone else who is interested in how is that, unlike many organisations, they are technology will shape our future. It is intended designed to function without the need to trust to help demystify some of the complex ideas other members of the group – that is, with being discussed in this space while also giving trust in people replaced by a different kind a glimpse into how, over the coming decades, of trust, in the technology itself. This has the decentralised digital organisations could potential to change radically what people change every aspect of how we live and work. think an organisation can be and what it means to work for one. Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come 5 Why now? This collection also builds on Nesta’s work over the last few years in the related fields The launch of Bitcoin in 2009 showed how of collective intelligence,7 crowdfunding,8 blockchain technology could be used to the peer-to-peer or sharing economy9 and build a completely decentralised cash system digital democracy10 – and how innovations – not merely ‘digital cash’, but a system in these areas can help us overcome some of that does not rely upon banks and other the world’s most pressing societal challenges. intermediaries. A decade on, there has been In the private sector, too, we have seen a digital ‘Cambrian explosion’ of innovative how the dominant mode of innovation for ventures trying to do what Bitcoin did for the past few decades has arguably been money – that is, provide resilient, secure and organisational innovation enabled by digital transparent decentralised systems that can technologies: the advantage of Airbnb and function largely autonomously – in just about Uber, for example, is that they replaced every other area of our lives from how we asset-laden organisations with much fall in love 2 to how we pay our taxes.3 While looser networks featuring distributed asset uptake of these technologies has taken longer ownership (although the networks themselves than some expected, advocates believe are still centralised, with the company at that we are approaching a turning point as the core; the essays in this volume describe they gain traction and acceptance in more what happens if we go a step further – that industries 4 and as more organisations – such is, if we have both distributed assets and a as DAOstack, Colony and Aragon – have distributed network which facilitates a market started to provide tools which make it simpler without the burden of central coordination). for others; in much the same way as Ebay, Amazon and Etsy made it easier for anyone to Despite the possible benefits, however, the set up an online shop. public image of blockchain and related decentralised technology remains tainted The essays in this collection were written by the large number of fraudulent sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the of cryptocurrencies and other digital pandemic, remote working was primarily an tokens (also known at ICOs).11 Similarly, optional benefit for affluent workers in the many policymakers are still focused on ‘knowledge economy’. 5 However, the crisis has the negative aspects, such as the risk of triggered an immense shift towards remote money laundering. One of the purposes work in all sectors, forcing every organisation of this collection, therefore, is to highlight to think about whether people really need some of the potential positive impacts of to be geographically close in order to work decentralisation – including greater resilience, together effectively. It has been suggested increased transparency and democracy, by many that this shift in working habits reduced transaction costs and vastly more will endure beyond the current crisis.6 This, new opportunities for value creation. we believe, will result in more people asking questions about what organisations are really for, what it can mean to work for one and how we should structure them in the future. Thus questions of decentralisation, and the governance structures and technologies which best enable this, are more relevant than ever. Decentralised Futures: How digital technologies will change the shape of organisations to come 6 What you will find in the collection decentralised digital organisations can craft a future where individuals can decide the shape This collection is made up of the ten finalists of their own communities and build the lives from the Decentralised Futures essay they want, centred around vibrant high streets competition which Nesta ran. While readers where everyone feels a sense of ownership might not agree with all of their conclusions, and pride. each of the finalists makes a compelling case and brings a fresh perspective to how The Web of Commons: Rethinking the we think about the future of decentralised Status Quo from the Data Up – In this essay, organisations.