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235TheAuthor(s)2018V.
M.
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Giorgino,Z.
Walsh(eds.
),Co-DesigningEconomiesinTransition,https://doi.
org/10.
1007/978-3-319-66592-4_1313TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworksfromtheGrassrootsPanayotisAntoniadisIntroductionInternetaccesshasbecomesuchanecessaryutilityforcitizenstostayinformedasactivemembersofsocietythatithasbeenrecentlyconsid-eredtobea"humanright"bytheUN—alas,ahumanrightthatisnotgrantedto60%oftheworld'spopulation(Sandle,2016).
Ahugeamountofinvestmentisrequiredtoclosethisgap,andtherearemanydifferentpossiblewaysto"connecttheworld"Miller(2014),differentapproachesonwhatarerequiredtoprovide"globalInternetaccessforall"(Crowcroft,Wolisz,&Sathiaseelan,2015).
Thekeyquestionisasfollows:ShouldbigcorporationslikeFacebookorGooglebeallowedtoofferconnectivityinexchangeformorepowerovertheInternetitself,orshouldconnectivitybeconsidereda"commons"(Baig,Roca,Freitag,&Navarro,2015),pro-videdbythepeopleforthepeopleFacebookisacorporationdedicated,indeed,to"connecttheworld"andto"understandintelligenceandmakeintelligentmachines"(MacManus,2016),whichcouldevenattempttoP.
Antoniadis(*)NetHood,Zurich,Switzerland236"curealldiseasesinourchildren'slifetime"(Brink,2016).
Italsoaimstooffer"free"Internetaccess,oratleasttoasmallpartoftheInternetcon-sidered"basic",whichofcourseincludesFacebook,todisadvantagedareasandcountriessuchasIndia(Bhatia,2016).
ShouldweacceptthisdealShouldweallowFacebooktoacquiremonopolisticpower,ifinexchange,itwillensurethatallpeopleonearthareconnected…toFacebook'sdatacentersOrshouldweprovidemoreresources,suchaseconomicandlegal,forCommunityNetworkslikeGuifi.
netorFreifunk.
net,amongmanyothers,tobecomemorepopularandempowermorelocalcommunitiestobuildtheirownnetworkinfrastructuresinamoredemocraticway(Antoniadis,2016b),andinasensemore"organic"Theexistenceofcrediblelocalinformationandcommunicationtech-nology(ICT)solutionscanindeedprovecriticalincasesofnaturaldisas-ters(anearthquake),economicdisasters(aglobaleconomiccrisis),orevenpoliticaldisasters(acoupd'etat),andthroughthetransferofpowerfrombigcorporationstolocalinstitutionscanalsoillustratethewaytowardmoreecologicalwaystobuildandusetechnologyinoureverydaylife.
Butnoticethatunlikehousingorfood,wedonothavetheexperienceof"howthingsweremadeinthepast".
TheInternetwascreatedasaglobalnet-workfromanearlystageanduntilveryrecentlythepercentageofpeopleinaspecificgeographicareaconnectedtoitwasratherlimited.
Inotherwords,"doingthingslocally"isanelementoftheInternet'sfuture,notitspast.
Andthisposesbothchallengesandopportunities.
Ontheonehand,thereisnotatangibleexampleofhowtobuildanInternetfromthegrass-roots,andwedonotknowwhatisthepossibleroleofthedifferentlocalactorsinthisprocess.
Itisdifficulteventoimaginethispossibility,althoughtherequiredtechnologyisalreadyavailableandalsogoodreasonstouseitinthisway(Antoniadis,2016a).
Ontheotherhand,the"localInternet"couldbeperceivedasanadvancedformofcommunicationincitiesandnotasabackwardsapproachtodevelopment,assustainabilitysolutionsinotherdomainsare,oftenmistakenly,perceived(Kallis,2017).
Thischapteraimstoanswertwomainquestions:oneaboutproduc-tion—ICTinfrastructures—andthesecondaboutconsumptionhab-its—theInternetdiet.
Italsointroducesonecandidatetechnologythatcouldbecomepartoftheanswer:Do-It-Yourself(DIY)networking.
First,inasustainablecityofthefutureliketheoneimaginedbyP.
M.
P.
Antoniadis237(2012,2014)howwouldtheunderlyingICTinfrastructurelookWoulditbeownedandmanagedthroughlocalcooperatives,asinthecaseofhousingandagricultureWouldeveryneighborhoodhaveitsownserv-ers,platforms,wiredandwirelessconnectionsOrwouldICTsbelonginthe"globalsphere"—acentrallymanagedinfrastructuremeanttointer-connectdifferentregionsandcitiesacrosstheworldOrperhaps,therealitywouldbesomewhereinthemiddlewithpointsofcentralizationatthedistrictorcitylevel.
Ineithercase,woulditlookliketoday'scom-mercialindustrializedInternetorwoulditbemore"organic"Second,inaworldwithresourceconstraints,whatwouldbeahealthyandecologicaldietforeverydayconsumptionofInternetservicesandinformationWhattypeofservicesshouldbeprovidedtosatisfythebasicneedsforcommunicationandtheorganizationofothercommonactivitiesAndhow"private"shouldweexpectthisconsumptiontobeShouldpeoplesharetheirdevicesShouldtheysharethecontentdownloadedfromtheInternetorevensharetheirInternetconnectionsthemselvesThekeypremisebehindtheefforttoanswerthosequestionsisthatany"actionplan"forsustainablelivingneedstoincludealsoastrategyforimplementingandconsuminginformationandcommunicationstech-nologies(ICTs).
Andthisstrategyneedsalsototakeintoaccounttheenergyrequirementsofdigitalcommunications,theirdesignandgover-nance,andtheircorrespondingsocial,economic,andpoliticalimplica-tions(Fuchs,2017).
Thisisessential,sincetheInternetandmoregenerallyICTsaremuchmorethan"dumppipes"transferringdigitalinformationfrompointAtopointB.
Theyincludedatacollection,management,andfilteringservices,aswellasuserinterfacesthatprioritizecertainactionsoverothers,andincludemanyotherdesigndecisionsthatsignificantlyaffectthewaytheyareusedandtheircorrespondingoutcome(e.
g.
,Tufekci,2014).
Themoreownershipandcontrolcitizenshaveovertheunderlyingnetworkinfrastructureandsoftware,themoreopportunitiesareofferedfordevelopingsustainablesolutionsaccordingtothelocalenvironment.
DIYnetworkingisanumbrellatermfordifferenttypesofgrassrootsnet-workingtechnologiesthatallowstodayvariousformsofexperimentationtowardthisdirectionandoffersanexampleofanother,moreorganic,TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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238waytobuildcommunicationsnetworksthatpromotesself-expression,face-to-faceinteractions,anddiversity.
AsustainablecityneedstheoptionofanorganicInternet.
Onewhoseinfrastructureisbuilt,owned,controlled,andmaintainedbylocalcom-munities.
Andonethatsatisfiesourbasicneedsforknowledge,informa-tion,andcommunication.
Consumptionandgeographiclimitsshouldbealsoconsideredtopromoteahealthylifestylethatencouragesphysicalcontactandconviviality,andallowsforintimacyandlocalgovernancemodels.
Regardingenergyrequirements,itisimportanttorealizethatInternetconsumptionisnotanisolatedactivity.
Itcandiminishtrans-portationcosts,sincecommunicatingonlineenablesustosocialize,learn,andworkfromhome;butatthesametime,forexample,itcanincreasehealthcostsfromlackofmovementandphysicalcontact.
Moreover,theInternetisnotaneutralmediumofcommunication.
Whenusedforpro-motingthecommongoodinsteadofincreasingprofitsforglobalcorpo-rations,itcanplayakeyroleinsupportingalternative,moresustainablemodesofliving.
ButinthecurrentcontextitisnoteasytogetridofFacebook,justasitisnoteasytogetridofcompanieslikeMonsanto.
Theprofessionalgraphicdesignersandengineersof"userexperiences"areanalogoustogeneticallymodifiedseedsandpesticides,insofarastheymakeourlifeeasierintheshorttermbutcanhavedisastrousconse-quencesinthelongterm.
TowardastrategyforanorganicInternetaspartofasustainablemodeloflivinginthecity,thischaptermakesthefollowingcontributions.
"TheSecondWatershedoftheInternet"sectionoffersaveryshortsimplifiedoverviewtothehistoryoftheInternetarguingthatitiscurrentlyatits"secondwatershed"phaseasatechnology;thisisatermusedbyIvanIllichtodescribethesituationinwhichanextremelyusefulinitially"tool"likeeducationormedicineisprofessionalizedtosuchextentthatitstartsharmingthecommongoodinfavorofitsownsustainability.
The"NetworkInfrastructure"and"Software"sectionsanalyzeindetailthedifferentelementsofanetworkinginfrastructure(thebackboneandaccessnetwork)andthedifferenthigh-levelservicesthatrunontheserv-ersdeployedinthenetwork(e.
g.
,storage,contentsharing,socialnet-working,etc.
).
The"Limits"and"SharingResources"sectionsintroducedifferentformsoflimits,andsharingpracticesinInternetconsumption,P.
Antoniadis239amorebalancedInternetdiet,thatcouldbeconsideredinanenergy-limitedworldtogetherwithdifferentformsofresourcesharing.
The"Do-It-YourselfNetworking"sectionintroducestheconceptofDIYnet-workingandarguesthatoptionsshouldbeprovidedtocommunitiestobuildpartoftheseelementsandservicesfromthebottomupasacom-mons,resultingindifferentcombinationsbetweenlocalandglobalsolu-tionsaccordingtothespecificenvironment.
Finally,the"PuttingThingsTogether:TheCaseofNeNa1"sectionpresentsoneexampleofhowthesedifferentoptionscouldbebroughttogethertoimagineanorganicInternetthatcouldservetheneedsofanurbanneighborhoodofaround500inhabitants,asimaginedbyZurich'scooperativehousingandlivinginitiativeNeNa1.
TheSecondWatershedoftheInternetBeforeelaboratingavisionofan"organic"Internet,Iwantfirsttopro-videasimplifiedviewoftheinterioroftheInternetandhowitevolvedinthelast20yearsfromanopenandhighlydecentralizedsystemtoaverycentralizedone,subjecttosurveillance,censorship,andmanipulationatlargescales.
Havingbeenconceivedaspartofamilitaryprogram,theInternethasbeendesignedtobeflexibleandadaptabletoverydynamicconditions(Clark,1988).
Themainidea,whatiscalledtheend-to-endprinciple,wasthatthenetworkwouldbehavelikea"dumppipe"trans-ferringpacketsofinformationfromtheonesidetotheother,tryingalwaystofindthebestpathfromthesourcetothedestinationforeachdifferentpacket—unlikethetelecommunicationsindustrymodelofestablishingfirsta"connection"ora"circuit"throughwhichallpacketsflow.
AnotherimportantprincipleoftheinitialdesignoftheInternetisthatthenetworkwasconceivedtobedistributedandcomprisedbydifferent"autonomous"systemsthatarefreetointerconnectandsharetheinfor-mationrequiredtocalculatethemostappropriate"paths"forthedatapacketstotravelthroughthenetwork.
Thisratherloose"contract"betweenindependententities,opentovariousopportunisticdecisionsandoligopolisticcoalitions,isheldtogetherthroughabasicprincipleTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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240thateveryoneinprincipleisobligedtofollow:netneutrality(Odlyzko,2009).
Thatis,alldatapacketscrossingthenetworkshouldbetreatedequallyintermsof"urgency",independentfromtheirsourceanddesti-nation.
Thisprincipleisveryimportantbecauseitallowseveryonecon-nectingtothenetworktoprovideservicesthatcancompeteonequaltermswitheveryoneelse,allowingforexperimentationandinnovation.
ThiskeyprinciplesignificantlyaffectedthewaytheInternetwasusedforthefirstfewyears.
OneofthemostpopularInternetservices,e-mail,wasdistributedamongdifferente-mailserversrunningindifferentplaces,typicallyuniversities.
However,asmoreandmoreuserswerebecomingpartoftheInternet,andduetoimportantphysicalconstraintsoftheinfrastructure(lowspeeds,asymmetricbandwidth),economiesofscale,networkexternalities,andabuses(e.
g.
,SPAM),servicesstartedbecomingmoreandmorecentralizedandparticipationofpeopleonlinelessandlessanonymous.
Indeed,averylargepercentageofworldwidee-mailtraf-ficpassescurrentlythroughthegmailserversofGoogle,whosealgorith-micagentshavetherighttoanalyzethecontentofthee-mails(Rushe,2015)andcorrelatewithotherpersonalinformationattachedtothesendersandreceivers,suchasGPSlocationsrecordedfromGoogleMaps,searchqueries,andmore.
Todayweareinaneraof"thecloud",bigdata,sophisticatedsocialsoftware,algorithmsandartificialintelligence.
From"virtual"communi-ties(Rheingold,1993)connectinglike-mindedstrangersacrosstheglobe,likethefamousWELL(anacronymforWholeEarth'LectronicLink),ouronlineinteractionstakeplacemoreandmorebetweenpeoplewhomweknow"inreallife";andwhoseidentityisknownalsoandoftenevencertifiedbythecorrespondingdigitalplatformthatmediatesthiscommunication.
ThepopularInternetplatformsthatmediateasignificantportionofoureverydaycommunicationsbecomethusmoreandmoreefficientinmanagingvastamountsofinformation.
Inturn,theyalsobecomemoreandmoreknowledgeableaboutdesigninguserinteractiondesigntech-niquesthatincreaseaddiction,or"stickiness"whendescribedasaperfor-mancemetric,anddependency.
Thisrenderstheirusersmoreandmoreaddictedanddependentonthem,subjecttomanipulationandexploita-tionforcommercialandpoliticalobjectives.
ThiscouldbecharacterizedP.
Antoniadis241asthesecondwatershedoftheInternetinthecontextofIllich'sanalysisonthelifecycleoftools.
Asinthecaseofmedicineandeducation,theInternetatitsearlystageswasextremelyuseful.
Itdramaticallyincreasedouraccesstoknowledgeandtopeopleallovertheworld.
However,toachievethis,itreliedonbigorganizationsofferingefficientandreliableservices.
Theseservicesnowdependmoreandmoreontheparticipationofpeopleandontheexploitationofthecorrespondingdataproducedforplatformstosurvive.
Thiscreatesaviciouscyclebetweenaddictivedesignpracticesandunfaircompetitionwhichbreachtheprincipleofnetneu-trality,andunethicalusesofprivatelyownedknowledgeonhumanbehaviorwhicharegeneratedthroughanalysesofthedataproducedfromoureverydayonlineactivities.
Inadditiontothetremendoussocial,political,andeconomicimplica-tionsofcentralizingpowerontheInternet,therearealsosignificanteco-logicalconsequences.
Atfirstglance,theseseemtobepositive.
Thecentralizationofonlineplatformshasallowedtheirownerstobuildhugedatacentersincoldclimatesandinvestintechnologiesthatkeepserverscoolwithlowerenergycosts.
However,atthesametime,themainaimofonlineplatformsistomaximizethetotaltimespentonlineasmuchaspossibleandtomaximizetheamountofinformationexchanged,notonlybetweenpeoplebutalsobetween"things!
"Theirprofitabilitydependsontheprocessingofhugeamountsofinformationthatproducesknowledgewhichcanbesoldtoadvertisersandpoliticians.
Likethepharmaceuticalcompanies,theycreateandmaintainaworldinwhichtheyareverymuchneeded.
ThisalsoexplainswhycorporationslikeFacebook,Google,andMicrosoftareattheforefrontoftheeffortstoprovide"Internetaccesstoall"andwhyatthesametimelocalcommuni-tiesfacesomanyeconomic,political,andlegalhurdlesthatencumberthemtobuild,maintain,andcontroltheirowninfrastructures.
Asimilarsituationholdsinrelationtoanevenmorefundamental,butfarfromgrantedtoall,humanright,the"righttofood".
AsFacebookaimstoconnecttheworld,Monsantodevelops"asmarterwaytofeedtheworld",claimingtheownershipandcommercialexploitationoftheseedsusedbyfarmerseverywhere.
Notehereonedifference,amongothers,betweenthecaseoffoodandtheInternet.
Manypeopletodaydonotactu-allytrustgiantcorporationslikeMonsantotosolvetheproblemofglobalTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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242nutritionandprefertoavoidgeneticallymodifiedorganisms(GMOs)forvariousreasons,includingtheirpotentialtoharmbio-diversityandlocalautonomy.
ButthisisnotthecasefortheInternet.
ThereisrelativelylesspublicawarenesseveninprogressivecirclesthatthepracticesofInternetcorporationslikeFacebookandGooglecansignificantlyharmfundamen-talrightsrelatedtoeverydaysocialandpoliticalprocesseswhicharetodayincreasinglymediatedthroughtheInternet.
JustasMonsantoproducesinitsheadquartersseedswithGMOsthataretobeusedallovertheworld,theseInternetplatformssimilarlymedi-atepeople'scommunicationthroughserversthatstoretheirprivateinfor-mationandmanipulatethewaytheycommunicatethroughalgorithmicallymodifieddata(AMD),inanefforttomaximizethetimetheystayonline,oftenleadingtoInternetaddictionandalienation(Turkle,2011).
NoticethatFacebookdoesnotevenneedtocopyrightandthusprofitdirectlyfromitsknowledge,asMonsantodoeswithitsseeds,becausethisknowledgeisheldprivatelyandkeptsecretusingalgo-rithmsthatmanipulatetheinformationstoredinitsdatacenters.
Thesealgorithmsanalyzestatistically,andalsoexperimentwith,thishugeamountofinformationtolearnhowpeoplereacttodifferentformsofstimuli(e.
g.
,throughtheso-calledA/Btesting)andtheninfluencetheirbehavior,formingthiswayasocialengineeringlaboratoryuniqueinhumanhistory,controlledandmanagedbytheprinciplesofthecapitalistprofitmaximizing"market",freefromscientificresearchethics.
Today,Facebookisreadytocreate"anewmapofeveryoneintheworld"(Meyer,2016),whileatthesametimeexperimentingwiththemanipulationofpeople'sfeelingsthroughthecurationoftheirnewsfeeds(Gibbs,2014),andalsotakingtheresponsibilitytoprotectusfromfakenews,oratleastwhatitsalgorithmsthinkisfakenews.
Moreover,allthesedevelopmentshappenatanextremelyfastpaceandnoonereallyknowshowfarFacebook'sandGoogle'sscientistshaveadvancedintheirendeavors,norhowsophisticatedtheiralgorithmsreallyare.
Indeed,theyhavenoincen-tivetopublishtheirresultstoscientificjournals.
Theyaretheonlyonesanywaythathaveaccesstothedataproducedbytheirworldwidereal-lifelaboratories.
However,thegoalofthischapterisnottodemonizeFacebookorGoogle,butrathertodeconstructtheInternetsothatwecanunderstandP.
Antoniadis243thefundamentalbuildingblocksofitsinfrastructureandservices.
Thiswillhelptoreflectonwhichoftheseservicesreallyneedtobeofferedbyglobalplatformsandwhichcouldbeinsteadhostedonlocalinfrastruc-tures,ownedandmanagedbythelocalcommunityofusers.
Thisexerciseisnotmotivatedbyaromantic"smallisbeautiful"or"localisbetter"ideal,butbyanurgentneedtodiversifythewaysthatICTsmediateoureverydaylife.
Justaslivingorganismscanbethreatenedbythelackofbio-diversity,ourdigitalsovereigntyandself-determinationwillbemoreandmoreendangered,thelessnet-diversityismadeavailabletous.
Moreover,net-diversityisnotonlyimportantforreasonsofdemocraticgovernanceandindependence.
Itisalsoamatterofsocial,economic,andecologicalsustainability.
AsstressedbyKrisDeDecker(2015),"Ontheinternet,however,advancesinenergyefficiencyhaveareverseeffect:asthenetworkbecomesmoreenergyefficient,itstotalenergyuseincreases.
Thistrendcanonlybestoppedwhenwelimitthedemandfordigitalcommunication".
However,"limitingdemandiscontroversialwhenappliedtotheinternet,inpartbecausefewpeoplemaketheconnectionbetweendataandenergy".
Averysimilarphenomenonhasbeenobservedregardingtrafficcongestion,whichiscommonlyacknowledgednottobeimprovedbyjustbuildingmoreroads(Mann,2014).
Similarly,thetotalenergyconsumptionoftheInternetcannotbereducedbyjustbuildingmoreenergy-efficientequipment.
Tothisend,DIYnetworkingasdiscussedinthe"Do-It-YourselfNetworking"sectioncouldbeseenasa"toolforconviviality"(Illich,1973),whichoperatesaccordingtocertainlimits,stimulatescollectiveactionandcreativity,andguaranteesfreeaccesstoallmembersofthecommunity.
Analyzingthekeytechnicalandsocialaspectsthatneedtobeaddressedinthiscontextwillhelpcitizensandcommunitiestoimag-ineandputinplacesuchnoveltypeofICT.
Forexample,canweimagineadifferentfutureofICTconsumptionthathaslimitsinsteadofmoreandmore"efficient"andconstantlygrow-ingmegaplatforms,asweseeforexampleinthe"capandshare"policyforfossilfuelsIfso,whatcanwedoHowcansuchecologicalpracticesfortheuseofICTsbeencouragedandwhatshouldtheylooklikeWhatistherightbalancebetweenonlineandofflineactivitiesWhatistherightInternetdietBeforeansweringthesequestionslet'sexplorethecoreTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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244elementsanddifferentoptionsforbuildingcommunityownednetworkinfrastructuresandservices.
NetworkInfrastructureAnin-depthunderstandingofthecapabilitiesandlimitationsoftechnol-ogyiscriticaltodeveloparealisticplanforanorganicInternet.
ItcanprovidethebasisforimagininganewInternetdevelopedfromthegrass-rootsinways(1)thatminimizeredundanciesandenergycostsrelatedtoprofitmaking;(2)thatcreateabalancebetweenonlineandface-to-facecommunication;and(3)thatpromoteasustainableandhealthylifestyle.
Inthiscontext,itishelpfultodelvedeeperintothedifferentbuildingblocksofnetworkinginfrastructure.
Servers:Theprincipalroleofacommunicationsnetworkistoconnectanenddevice,likeadesktopcomputer,alaptop,orasmartphone,thatisaclient,toanotherdeviceoraspecial-purposecomputer,aserver,whichcanofferarangeofservices:simplestorageoffiles,anonlineforum,ormoresophisticatedonesliketoolsforcollaborativeeditingorplatformsforonlinedeliberationandmulti-playergames.
Evenwhentwopeoplecommunicate"directly"betweenthem,thiscom-municationneedstobemediatedbyaserverresponsibleforsettinguptheconnection.
Anenddevicecanactalsoasaserver.
Forexample,inpeer-to-peersystems,softwarelikeBittorentallowsenddevicestodirectlydownloadanduploadcontent,forexample,largemoviefiles,betweenthem.
Inthiscase,however,thecommunicationoftendependsstillontheexistenceofotherserversdedicatedtocoordinatethepeer-to-peerinteractions.
Inprinciple,agoodserverneeds(1)tohavea"permanent"address,(2)tohavesufficientcomputingpoweranduploadbandwidthforservingtherequestsofitsclients,and(3)tobealwaysavailable,upandrunning,whichrequiresthereplicationoffunctionalityinmultiplecomputers,cooling,dedicatedpersonnel,andotherexpensivemeasures.
Hosting:Themoredemandingtheservicesofferedbyaserver,forexam-ple,intermsofcomputation,storage,andavailability,themoreP.
Antoniadis245difficultitistoinstallina"home"environment,especiallysinceInternetaccessistypicallyasymmetric(uploadbandwidthisratherlimited)andhomecomputersdonothavea"permanent"addressaccessiblefromtheoutsideworldwhenconnectingtotheInternet.
Forthis,therearetodaynumerous"webhosting"providerslikeAmazonthatofferonline"space"fororganizations,companies,andindividualstohosttheirservers,frompersonalblogstosophisticatedplatforms.
AndthisisincreasinglysothemorepeoplerelyonsmalldeviceslikesmartphonestoconnecttotheInternet.
Thistendencyisoneofthereasonswhyweseetodaymoreandmoreservicesmovingtobigdatacenters,oftenreferredtoas"thecloud",reducingthebur-denofcomputationandstoragefromtheenddevices.
Evensoftwaretraditionallyinstalledonone'scomputerlikeMicrosoftofficeismoreandmoreaccessedremotelythroughone'swebbrowser(e.
g.
,Googledocs).
Ontheonehand,thisrelievespeoplefromtheburdenofmain-tainingtheirowninfrastructure,evenfromtheneedtokeepbackupsoftheirfiles.
Butontheotherhand,thecostsofcommunicationincreasesignificantly,andmoreimportantlythereisalossofowner-shipandcontrolofone'sdata.
Accessnetwork,a.
k.
a.
thelastmile:Theaccesspartofthenetwork,fre-quentlycalledits"lastmile",enablesapersonwithadevicetoconnecttothecore,orbackbone,networkthroughwhichitcanthenaccessallavailableservices,hostedonserversspreadaroundtheglobe.
Examplesofaccessnetworksincludethecopperwiresubscriberlinesconnectinglandlinetelephonestothelocaltelephoneexchangeorcelltowerslink-inglocalcellphonestothecellularnetworkthatisoftenreferredtoas3G/4G.
Inmostcases,wirelessisalsotheaccesstothe"wired"lastmile.
Thisisthankstotheunlicensed,freetousebyradiodevices,WiFispectrumandthecorrespondingcheapwirelessWiFiroutersthatmakeiteasiertoconnectfromashortdistancetowiredInternetconnectionsathomes,publicspaces,airports,andcafes,withouttheneedofwires,andinawaythatismuchlessexpensivethan3G/4Gdatacontracts.
Backbonenetwork:Thisisthe"core"partofthenetworkinterconnectingallitsendpointsbyenablingallpossiblepathsbetweenenddevices,betweenserversandbetweenenddevicesandservers.
TheInternet'sTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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246backbonenetworkhasmultiplelayers,ortiers,anddifferentactors,rangingfromsmall"eyeball"InternetServiceProviders(ISPs),thoseservicingtheendcustomers,tothetop-levelbackboneprovidersof"Tier1"thatformasmallandfullyconnectednetworkofprovidersthathaveaccesstothewholeInternet.
Smallerproviderstypicallypay"transit"feesforinterconnectingandexchangingtrafficwithlargerproviders,whileprovidersofsimilarsizeoftenexchangetrafficatnocost.
Backbonenetworknodesaretypicallyinterconnectedwithopticfibercables,althoughinprincipleitispossibletohavewirelessback-bonenetworks.
WirelesstechnologyandtheunlicensedWiFispec-trumhasallowedvariousgrassrootsorganizationsandcommunitiestobuildtheirownregionalbackbonenetworks,alsocalledcommunitynetworks.
Thepotentialoverallcoverageofsuchwirelessnetworksdependsontheenvironmentalconditionsandthetypesofantennasused.
Antennas:TherearethreetypesofantennasthatcanbeusedforwirelessWiFicommunications.
First,directionalantennascanestablishawire-lesslinkbetweendistantlocations,possiblymanykilometersaway.
Thislinkcouldbeimaginedasaverylong"cable",a"line-of-sight",alongtheimaginarylineconnectingtwolocations,whichneedstobeclearofobstacles(walls,trees,etc.
).
Suchlinksareoftencalled"back-bone"linkssincetheyestablishthewidercoverageareaofthenetworkandarenotaccessiblebyendusers.
Second,anomnidirectionalantenna,attachedtoarouter,canspread"cables",radiosignals,inalldirectionsarounditandmakesiteasyformanydevicestoconnectatthesametimeandindependentlyfromtheirrelativelocation.
InthecaseofWiFi,unlikedirectionalantennas,thedistancebetweenthesmallantennasinsideourdevicesandanomnidirectionalantennacanbemuchsmaller,afewhundredmetersdependingontheenviron-mentalconditions.
Third,sectorantennasliebetweenthesetwoextremesrestrictingthesignalinsideacertainangle.
Bothomnidirec-tionalandsectorantennascanbealsousedtocreatedirectlinksbetweendevices,whichareeasiertosetup(theantennasfindeachotherautomaticallyiftheyfallineachother'srange)andthusthecor-respondingnetworksareeasiertoexpand,buttheyaremorecostlyintermsofnoiseandinterference.
AcellularbasestationisinessenceanP.
Antoniadis247omnidirectionalantennaoperatingindifferentlicensedfrequencies(boughtveryexpensivelybythecorrespondingoperators).
ItachievesmuchlargercoveragethananomnidirectionalWiFiantenna(afewkilometers)allowingforeasiermobilitybutwithlessspeedandhighercosts(energyandinfrastructure).
Sensors:Communicationsnetworks,bothwiredandwireless,areincreas-inglyusedtotransferdatageneratedautomaticallybyminisculesen-sorsspreadinnatureorattachedto"things"tomeasurevariousenvironmentalvariablessuchastemperatureandhumidity,butalsobycamerasandmicrophonesthatcanautonomouslygenerateahugeamountofinformation,sincetheyarenotsubjecttotheconstraintsofhumannatureandcanbeveryeasilyreplicatedandcanoperate24hoursperday.
Eachofthesedevicestypicallyconsumesaverysmallamountofenergy,andmanyofthemcouldbereallyautonomoususingsolarenergy,forexample.
Butthedatathattheycollectivelyproducecanbeenormousandrequirealotofcomputingresourcestobeprocessedandanalyzed.
Theownershipanduseofthisdataraisesalsoimportantprivacyandethicalissuesthatshouldnotbeunderestimated.
EnergyConsumptionDespitethecomplexityofcalculatingtheenergyconsumptionoftheInternetasawhole,therearecertainfactsthatonecankeepinmindwhiledecidingthetypeofinfrastructurerequiredtocoverspecificneeds.
Forexample,wiredcommunicationsconsumelessenergythanWiFi,andWiFiconsumeslessenergythan3G/4G.
Also,multiplexingseveralser-vicesinthesamelocationcandecreasesignificantlytheoverallenergyconsumptionduetotheefficientuseofresources.
Thisrequireshowevertheneedformorecommunicationresourcesbetweenenddevicesandremotedatacenters.
ButmostimportantlythebusinessmodelsofthecompaniesthatownthosedatacentersdependonthecontinuousgrowthofInternetconsumption,andanincreasingamountofresourcesareinvestedforanalyzingdata,targetedadvertising,andsoforth.
Inotherwords,developingenergy-efficienttechnologies,whileatthesametimeTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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248increasingthetotalamountofenergyconsumedforthesamenumberofInternetusers,isnottherightthingtodofromanecologicalperspective.
Interferences,Electrosmog,andtheValueofSharingWirelesscommunicationscanbeveryliberating,allowingforthecon-nectiontotheInternetanywhereandanytime.
Theyarealsoveryempow-eringsincetheyallowordinarycitizenstoestablishtheirownlocalnetworksbothforaffordableInternetaccessandlocalservices.
However,theyconsumealotofenergyandcontributetoelectromagneticpollu-tion,theso-calledelectrosmog,andsotheyshouldbeusedonlywhencableconnectionsarenotfeasibleandsharedasmuchaspossible.
Inanon-capitalisticformofdistribution,itispossibletoachievetre-mendoussavingsinhardware,energy,andpollutionbyjustsharingtheavailableinfrastructure.
Forexample,despitetheover-abundantavailablebandwidth,weareallrequiredtobuyourindividualInternetconnectiv-ityevenifweuseaverysmallpercentageofit.
Thereisalsoanunneces-saryabundanceofbothwirelessaccesspointsandcellularbasestationsthatoverlapinthesameareas.
Similarlytothenumeroussatellitedishesthatunnecessarilyfillthefacadesofbuildings,ourInternetconnectionsareunnecessarilypersonal.
Forthesakeofeconomicgrowthandmarketcompetition,thiswasteofresourcesisnotonlycostlyintermsofenergyandpollution,butitalsocausesnoiseandinterferencesreducingtheoverallperformanceandleadingtoatragedyofthecommonsintermsofspectrumutilization.
SoftwareTheroleofsoftwareistogivemeaningtothedigitaldatageneratedbyinputdeviceslikekeyboards,cameras,recorders,andthentransmittedbynetworkdevices,storedinharddisks,andreceivedbyoutputdeviceslikedisplaysandprinters.
Itisthebrainoftheclientsandservers,fromlow-level"drivers"ofdevices,tooperatingsystems,databases,andP.
Antoniadis249service-levelsoftwarethatoperateatdifferentlayersoftheprocessoftransferringandmanipulatingdigitalinformation.
Itisinessenceaseriesofstatements(memoryoperations,if(condition)-then(action1)-else(action2)clausesorloops)thatinterpret,translate,filter,manipulate,anddirectinformation,addingdifferentlayersofmetadataalongtheway.
Thisprocessisbeingdrivenbydifferenttypesofalgorithmsthatamongotherscalculatethemostefficientpathtoadestination,predictfutureeventsbasedonpreviouspatterns,andmayinfluencehumanbehaviortowardcertainobjectives.
AlltheInternetservicesthatweareusingdailyinvolveaserversome-wherestoring,indexing,andfilteringdatareceivedfromclientsandthedevicesownedbythe"users".
Changingsimpledetailsinthesemanticsofthisdataandtheuserinterfacecantransformaplatformfromanonlinesocialnetworkto,forinstance,apublicadministrationwebsiteoranoisepollutionmeasurementplatform.
Inaddition,therearecertainhigh-level"orthogonal"system-levelser-vices,whichrelatetosecurityandprivacy(whohasaccesstothisinfor-mationandtowhatextentisitsecurelyprotectedfrommaliciousbehavior),resilience(howsafeistheinformationincaseofdisastersandotherformsoffailurelikesecurityfailures),usability(howclearistheuserinterfaceandhowsmoothistheoveralluserexperience),andperfor-mance(howfastandresponsiveistheoverallsystem).
Someofthereasonswhynewsoftwareisbeingconstantlywrittenistheevolutionofhardware,forexample,devicesgetsmallerandfaster,theincreaseofthenumberofpeoplethatbecomedigitalnatives,andtheincreaseoftheinformationthatgetsdigitized(frommusicandimagesafewdecadesagotofeelingsandphysicallocationandmove-mentsofpeopletoday).
Thisresultstoashiftofpowerfromgovern-mentsandlocalinstitutionstoonlineplatformsowningandcontrollingthisinformationandaffectingalsotraditionallylocalser-vicesliketransport(e.
g.
,Uber)andlodging(e.
g.
,Airbnb).
Forthis,itiscriticaltorealizethatmany-to-manytechnologyisnotneutralandcansignificantlyaffectbehaviorinmuchsubtlerandeffectivewaysthanone-to-manytechnologylikeTV,preciselyduetotheadditionalfreedomandagencythattheInternetofferstoitsusers.
ThisfreedomasalreadystressedcanbeveryeasilymanipulatedbythealgorithmicTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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250filteringofinformation,enhancedgraphics,nudging,andmanyotherdesigntools,whichcanbecomeverypowerfulinthehandsofcorpo-rationsthathaveaccesstolargeamountsofinformation,andthatsohaveanopportunitytoexperimentwithsocialengineeringthatisuniqueinhistory.
Notethatthelessvisiblethispoweris,themoredangerousitbecomes.
Inthiscontext,theroleoffree,libre,andopen-sourcesoftware(orFLOSS)canbeinstrumental.
Thevisionofademocratic,bottom-up,organicwayofbuildingnetworkinfrastructuresandservicescanonlybematerializedifsoftwaredevelopmentistransparent,andifallowsforitsappropriationandownershipbylocalactors.
Inthiscase,scalingoccursthroughreplication,sinceitiseasyfordifferentgroupsorevenindividu-alstoruntheirownserviceslikeaWordpressblogoranEtherpadserver.
Formoresophisticatedservices,however,additionalinvestmentsininfra-structuremightberequiredaswellastheappropriateinstitutionalandgovernancestructurealongthelinesoftheconceptof"platformcoopera-tivism"(Scholz&Schneider,2016).
Therearemanyadditionalchallengingissuesthatlocalcommunitiesstillneedtoaddress,suchasthedigitaldivide,Internetaddiction,localgovernanceandpowerstructures,andnecessarytrade-offsbetweensecu-rityandlossofprivacy.
Regardingenergyconsumption,thetypeandamountofhardwareandotherresourcesrequiredtoofferaspecificInternetservicedependheavilyontheextenttowhichthedifferentorthogonalservices(security,resiliency,etc.
)areprovided,andatwhatscale,dependingonthenumberofparticipantsandtheirexpectedusage.
Allinall,therearesomanyvariablesandfactorsthatinfluencetheenergyrequiredbydifferentcombinationsofimplementationchoicesandcor-respondingusagepatterns,bothonlineandoffline,thatitisalmostimpossibletoaccuratelycalculatethecorrespondingenergyconsumers/savedbyaspecificservice.
Economicsustainabilityisalsoaninfluencingfactorsinceitmightrequiretheimplementationofadditionalfunction-alitysuchastargetedadvertising,addictiveservices,andmore.
Asgeneti-callymodifiedfoodismuchcheaperandbeautiful,Facebook,Google,andingeneralthe"algorithmicallymodifiedInternet"willbealwaysfreeandextremelyusable.
P.
Antoniadis251Consideringthealternativeofmoreorganicservicesdeployedlocally,thequestionofbordersappearswhenmovingfromtheabstractnotionoftheInternet,orthecloud,toalocalinfrastructuremeanttosatisfytheneedsofacertainlocality.
Whattypeofservicesneedtobemadeavail-ablethroughalocalcommunitynetwork,whichcanbelefttothe"global"infrastructure,andwhatisthecorresponding"community"foreachcat-egoryofservicesIsitaneighborhood,adistrict,orevenawholecityAndwhomwouldpeopletrustmoretoowntheirdata,adistantfacelesscorporationorsomeidentifiablelocalactorsTheanswerwouldbediffer-entfordifferentservices.
Forthis,andalthoughitmightseemsomehowtrivial,Iquicklyoutlinesomeofthebasiconlineservicesthatpeopleareconsumingtodayasastimulationtoreflectontheabovequestionsandinformthediscussiononlimitsandsharinginthefollowingsections:Digitalarchivesandknowledge:Manypeopletakephotosorvideosorsimplywritedocumentsusingtheirinputdevices.
Allthisprivateinprincipleinformationneedstobestoredforfutureuse,retrieved,andsecured.
Intheory,theinfrastructurerequiredforstoringone'sowndatacouldbelocatedinone'shouse,forexample,anexternalharddrive.
Buttherearemanycloud-basedsolutionsthatenableInternetuserstostorelargeamountsofdataonremoteserversofcommercialcompanieslikeDropbox.
Ontheotherhand,therearealsoaffordablesolutionsbasedonFLOSSsoftwarelikeOwncloudandNetxtcloud,whichcanbehostedonanywebhostingproviderorcheaphardwareliketheRaspberryPi(see,e.
g.
,theMAZItoolkit,http://mazizone.
eu/toolkit/)thatcanoffersimilarservicesbutnotalwayswiththesamequality.
Indeed,therearemanyreasonswhypeoplepreferprofessionalcloudservicesforstorage:itsresilience,accessibility,usability,andinte-grationwithotherservices.
Cloudservicescouldalsobemoreefficientintermsofenergyconsumption,especiallygiventhelevelofresiliencythattheyoffer(iftheyarenotrequiredtoconsumeasignificantamountofresourcestostayprofitableasbusinesses).
Inbetweenthetwoextremesofapersonalandaglobalcloud,therearenumerousinterme-diateoptions,likeaneighborhood,districtorcitycloud,orevenacloudsharedbetweenacertaingroupofpeoplelikeacooperative.
TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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252Ontheotherextreme,movingfromprivatelytogloballyrelevantinfor-mation,thedigitizationofcontentliketext,audio,andvideohasallowedtheindexingandsharingoftheworld'saccumulatedpastandrecentknowledge.
ThedevelopmentofsophisticatedcollaborativeInternettoolslikewikismakeseveneasierthecollaborativecreationandclassificationofnewknowledge,Wikipediabeingoneofthebig-gestsuccessstoriesofthisnewmodeofpeerproduction.
Despitethefactthatallthisknowledgeisnotalwaysaccessibleevenforthosecon-nectedtotheInternet,duetocopyrightrestrictions,onecouldeasilyarguethatknowledgesharingisanInternetservicethatshouldbeglobalinprinciple.
Thereisnogoodreasonwhyknowledgeshouldbeconfinedinlocalities.
However,thequestionstillremainswhoshouldberesponsibleforhostingandresolvingconflictsasWikipediaisfamousforits"editwars"inthecaseofhighlycontestedtopics,andtheorganicInternetmightbeawaytocreateabalancebetweenthelocalandthegloballevelsintermsofknowledgeproduction.
Mediaandnews:Asacommunicationmedium,theInternetprovidesaveryefficientmeansofbroadcastingmediarangingfromlivestream-ingofpopulareventstoeverydaynews.
ThereisevensomespeculationthatitcouldsoonreplacetheTVandprintedpress.
OneofthekeydifferencescomparedtotraditionalmediaisthattheInternetallowsrichinteractionswiththeaudienceintheformofcommentariesand,morerecently,intheformoffilteringanddisseminatingcontent—anattributethattheoreticallygivessignificantpowertopeopleprotectingthemselvesagainstcensorship,butwhichalsogivespowertoglobalplatformsthatmediatecommunication,likeFacebookandTwitter,whichcancreatesignificanthiddenbiasesor"fakenews".
Inthiscontext,thekeyactorsarenotonlytheproducersandconsum-ersofnewsbutalsothemediatorresponsibleforfilteringandprioritiz-ingthehugenumberofpotentialstoriesgeneratedeverydaybeforetheyappearinour"newsfeeds".
Regardinglocalities,whatisimpor-tanttonoteisthatasignificantpercentageofeverydaynewsisgener-atedinaspecificlocation,anditisoftenthecasethattheconcernedaudienceresidesalsointhatsamelocation.
LocalICTinfrastructuremaybeabettercandidateforhostingsuchhyper-localnewsservices,becauseitcreatesanintimacythatisveryimportantbothforproduc-P.
Antoniadis253ersandconsumers.
Theformerknowthattheirstorieswillreachonlythoseconcerned,andthelatterknowthatthestoriesaregeneratedbypeoplethataretrulythere.
Thebigchallengecomesfromtheneedsdemandedbymediationandfiltering.
WhomshouldonetrusttomoderatetheirlocalnewsWemaythinkacompanyoraninstitutionbasedinthesamelocalityismorepronetobias,comparedtothepur-portedlyneutralalgorithmsofbigcorporationsthatare"toofaraway"and"toobig"tobeinterestedininterveningindifferentlocalitiesaroundtheworld;however,thisisaverydangerousmisconception.
Contentsharing,socialinteractions,andgroupwork:TheInternetisanamazingdistributedsystemforstoringanddistributinginformationandknowledge,butitsmostpopularapplicationtodateclearlycon-sistsofthewidevarietyofsynchronousandasynchronouscommuni-cationthatitfacilitates,suchasE-mail,discussionforums,chatrooms,andaplethoraofonlineplatformslikeFacebookandTwitteraswellascontentsharingplatformslikeInstagram,Youtube,andmanymore.
Theseapplicationshaveallowedustodiscoverlike-mindedpeopleacrosstheglobearoundcommoninterestsandalsokeepintouchwithfriendsandfamily.
Theyhavealsoenabledustobecomephotogra-phers,journalists,editors,andcurators.
Moresophisticatedcommuni-cationtoolsalsosupportcollaborativeopportunitiesforcoordinatingactions,managingorganizations,problemsolving,publicdelibera-tions,decision-making,andmorerecentlytheso-calledsharingecon-omywithAirbnbandUberbeingitscurrentchampions.
But,the"cloud"isjust"someoneelse'scomputer"andeventhehighly"distributed"blockchaintechnologyisaverypowerfulanddominantmiddlemanitself(Scott,2016).
Sincethenetworkexternalitiesinsuchservicesareverypowerful(thelargerthenetworkofpeopleconnected,thelargertheoverallvalueforeveryone),bigplatformshaveahugeadvantageoversmallerones,andtheytendtogainmoreandmorepower.
Fordeliveringlocation-basedservicesorlocativemedia,thatiscon-nectingpeopleresidinginthesamegeographicarea,globallocativemediaplatformslikeFoursquarearestillnotverysuccessfuldespitetheirhugecustomerbase.
Andwhentheydo,theyhavetobuildontheknowledgeofthelocation(e.
g.
,throughGPScoordinates)—anadmit-TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
.
.
254tedlyratherprivateinformation—ofacriticalmassofpeople.
Thisisthetypeofservicethatcanbeofferedmuchmoreefficientlyandinamuchmoreprivacy-preservingwaybyalocalnetworkasanalyzedinthe"Do-It-YourselfNetworking"section.
Informationservicesandsmarteverything:Giventheavailabilityofallpos-sibleinformationonline,andthedevelopmentofartificialintelligencethroughstatisticaltools,companieslikeGoogledevelopverysophisti-catedwaystofacilitateoureverydaylifebypersonalizedsearch,recom-mendations,translations,contentdistribution,navigation,andmore.
ExactlylikeFacebook,Airbnb,andUber,Googledoesnotproduceanyoftheunderlyinginformationthatfeedsitsextremelypopularservices.
Itjustcollectsallpossibleinformationavailableonline,andthenitssophisticatedalgorithmsarecontinuouslylearninghowtomakethebestuseoutofitmonitoringandevaluatingthewaypeopleinteractwiththeirdecisions.
Suchpowercanbecomeevenmoreeffectivethroughtheavailabilityofeversmallercomputingdevicesthatcanperformsophisticateddataoperationswhileconsumingverylittleenergygivingrisetothecon-ceptsofthe"InternetofThings"andthesmartcity.
Vastnetworksofsensorsmonitoringeverythingrequireshugedatacenters,collectingandanalyzingthisinformationtoenableustomakemoreefficientdecisions.
Themoredatacollectedandanalyzedfromfarms,people'sbodies,oracity'sstreets,thenthebetterthedecisionswecanmakeforsmartfarming,smarthealth,andsmartcities.
However,thecostforbecomingsmarterandefficientcanberatherhigh;sincestatisticsworkbestatlargescales,localcommunitieswillhavetomakesomehardtechnologicalchoicesiftheyvaluemoretheirdigitalsovereignty,andhumanagencythanefficiencyandautomation.
LimitsWeareusingourincreasinglyenergyefficientdevicesforlongerhoursaswesendmoreandmoredataoveraworldwideinfrastructure.
KrisDeDeckerP.
Antoniadis255ToachieveasustainablelevelofInternetusage,oneneedstoprovidetheappropriatetoolsandprocessesforlocalcommunitiestomakedeci-sionsonthedesignoftheirICTtools,includingappropriatealternativeand/orcomplementarydesignofplaces,institutions,andritualsthatcanimposecertainconstraintsandreplaceonlinecommunicationswhenthesearenotreallynecessary.
Toanswerthisdemand,oneshouldfirstansweramorefundamentalquestion:Howmuchonlinecommunicationisneededinanenergy-restrictedworldInthecaseoffoodandhousing,therearesomereasonablebasicneeds.
Forexample,eachpersonshouldconsume2000caloriesperdayor35m2ofhabitat(seeP.
M.
,2014).
But,howmanyMbsdoessomeoneneedtoconsumetosustainagoodqualityoflifeWhatwouldbetheanalogyforarestrictedvegetarianorevenveganInternetdietTheanswermightdifferdependingontheservicesconsidered(socialactivities,collaborativework,ormedia)andthetypeofaccesstothenet-workdiscussedabove.
Forexample,isitreallynecessarytohavewirelessconnectivity"everywhere,anytime"usingexpensivemobiledevices,orisitenoughtohaveold-fashionedInternetcafesandonlywiredconnec-tionsathomeWoulditmakesensetohaveInternet-freezonesincitiesCanweimagine"shared"Internetusageinpublicspaces—agroupofpeopleinteractingtogetherinfrontofascreenandalternatinginshow-ingtheirfavoriteYouTubevideos(asortofanInternetjukebox)Thereisavarietyofmoreorlessnovelconstraintswhichcouldbeimposedondifferentdimensions:TimeandVolume:Acommunicationsnetworkownedbyalocalcommu-nity,insteadofaglobalorlocalcorporation,couldshutdownforcer-tainperiodoftimeeachdayifthisiswhatthecommunitydecides.
Orcommunitymemberscouldagreetohavecertaintimequotasforusingthenetwork(e.
g.
,notmorethan4hoursperdayor150hourspermonth).
Suchconstraintswouldnotonlyreduceenergyconsumption;theywouldalsoenforceahealthierlifestyleandencourageface-to-faceinteractions.
Reducingquotasonthespeed(bandwidth)andvolume(MB)thateachpersonconsumesisanotherwaytorestrictInternetconsumption.
TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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256Actuallypeoplearealreadyusedtosuchlimitsespeciallyfor3G/4Gconnectivity.
Thedifferenceisthatavolumeconstraintdoesnotneces-sarilytranslatetotimeconstraints(ifsomeoneuseslowvolumeser-vicessuchase-mail).
So,volumeconstraintscouldencouragetheuseoflessvoluminousservices(e.
g.
,downloadingamoviewithlowinsteadofHighDefinitionresolutionifthisistobewatchedinalowdefinitionscreenanyway)whiletimeconstraintsmighthavetheoppo-siteeffect(peopleusingasmuchbandwidthaspossibleintheiravail-abletime).
However,toenforcesuchconstraints,bothtimeandvolumebased,onanindividualbasis,thenetworkneedstoknowwhoisconnectingtoitandkeeptrackoftheoverallusage.
Thisraisesthequestionofpri-vacyandidentificationonlineandagainthetrade-offoftrustinglocalvs.
globalinstitutionstotakethisrole.
Enforcingtimeorvolumecon-straintsforgroupsofpeople(e.
g.
,theresidentsofacooperativehous-ingcomplex)isaninterestingoptiontobeconsideredwhenprivacyisconsideredimportant.
Devices:EnergyconsumptiondependsonthetypeofequipmentusedtoaccesstheInternet.
Forexample,ifaccesstotheInternethappensonlythroughdesktopcomputersorlaptopsusingethernetcablesinsteadofmobilesmartphones,thenthetotalenergyconsumedforagivenser-vicewouldbesignificantlyreduced.
Usagewouldalsobedramaticallyaffected:Onthepositiveside,manypeoplewouldspendlesstimeonlineandusetheInternetonlyforimportanttasks.
Onthenegativeside,othersmightstayathomemoreoftenandsacrificeoutdoorsactivitiesinfavorofInternetcommunications.
Wirelessmedium:Anotherhardware-basedconstraintpertainstowhichoptionsinwirelesscommunicationareallowed.
Asmentioned,3G/4G/5Gcommunicationismuchmoreenergy-intensiveand"pol-luting"thanWiFi,butachieveswidercoverage(uptomanykilome-ters)andallowsforseamlesswirelessInternetaccessinanyplacewithinagivengeographicarea;evenwhiletravelingonpublictransportorahigh-speedtrain.
Ontheotherhand,WiFiaccesshaslimitedcoverage,suchasafewhundredmeters,butthenitallowsforfasterandpoten-tiallysymmetricconnections.
P.
Antoniadis257Physicallocation:OnecouldimaginerestrictionsonInternetusageinspecificlocations,suchasInternetcafesorpubliclibrariesor,theopposite,creatingInternet-freezonesincities,suchasparks,sidewalksandotherplacesdesignedforhumaninteractions.
Suchrestrictionswouldbeimplicitlyimposedbysomeofthechoicesabove,buttheycouldalsobemoreexplicitandnormative,suchasbycreatingdesig-natedspacesinwhichInternetaccessisprohibitedlikecurrentrestric-tionsonsmoking.
Proximity:OnecouldalsoimaginethecreationoflocalWiFinetworksoperatingoutsidetheInternetservingonlythosepeoplewithinphysi-calproximity,asexplainedindetailinthe"Do-It-YourselfNetworking"section.
InadditiontotheglobalInternet,peoplecouldalsoaccesstheirlocalInternet.
Inprinciple,thisistechnicallyfeasiblebecauseoftheconstraintsalreadyimposedbythewirelessmediumanditscorre-spondingcoverage.
Forexample,aDIYWiFinetworkcomprisedofasinglerouterwouldcoveranareawitharadiusofafewhundredmeters.
But,foracity-scalecommunitymeshnetworklikeFreifunk.
net,WiFicouldextendtoawholecity.
Inthiscase,themainquestioniswheretoplacelimitsorbordersonaccessandhowtoenforcethem.
SharingResourcesInadditiontoimposingconstraintsonusage,energysavingscanalsoarisefromsharingtheavailableresourcesbetweenmorepeople.
Ofcourse,todaymoreandmoreICTservicesarebeing"shared",butonlyintermsofuse(notownership)sincetheyarehostedonjustafewplatformsownedbyequallyfewcorporations.
Inotherwords,mostpeopleusethesameonlineplatformsfortheirsocialinteractions,photosharing,e-mail,evenword-processingsoftwareandsoon,whichisindeedaformofresourcesharing.
InthevisionoftheorganicInternet,sharingisanactofemancipationanddemocraticcontrolofICTinfrastructuresandservices.
Sharingisnotorchestratedbyaglobalresourcemanager,butissubjecttodelibera-tions,debates,anddecision-makingprocessesthatleadtopoliciesthatareadaptedtothelocalenvironmentratherthanimposedfromoutside.
TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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.
258Belowweidentifydifferenttypesofresourcesthatwouldmakesensetoshareinsmallerorlargergroupsinaconsciousandsustainableway.
Storage:Likethecloud,localcommunitiescouldbuildtheirowndatacenterstobeusedasasharedstoragespaceandtakeadvantageoftheeconomiesofscaleinvolved.
Inthisscenario,membersofa"datacooperative"wouldsharetheoperationalcostsofthedatacenterandgainaccesstoacertainamountofprivatestoragespace(e.
g.
,100GBperperson)butalsosharedstoragespaceforoptimizingtheuseofresourcesforthesamecontent.
Onecouldalsoimaginealocaldata-basestoringcontentlikealistofYouTubeorNetflixvideos,availabletoeveryone.
Again,onecouldimaginevotingmechanismsforselect-ingthemostdesiredcontenttobechosenfordownloadorformain-taininginthelocalstoragewhenthisisfull(see"TheInternetJukebox"inCrowcroftetal.
,2015).
Thistypeofresourcemanagement,iflim-itedtoalocal,insteadofglobal,scale,wouldresultinmanyassociatedbenefitswithregardtodatasovereignty.
ServersandServices:Storageisaratherstraightforwardservicetobeshared.
Butsharingdoesnotneedtobeconstrainedtosimpleresources.
Moresophisticatedserviceslikeword-processing,e-mail,onlinecol-laborationplatforms,etc.
canalsobesharedatalocal,insteadofaglobalscale.
Imagine,forexample,asmall-scaledatacenterinacoop-erativehousingcomplexthatprovidesalltherequiredresourcesforhostingasetofsuchservicesforthelocalresidents.
Access:Ashintedabove,alotofwasteoccursusinginfrastructuresbuiltwiththeprinciplesofthecapitalistmarket.
Manymobileoperatorsbecomeactiveinthesamearea,eachwiththeirownnetworkinfra-structureincludingexpensiveantennas,backbonenetworks,account-ing,andpricingservices.
ThesameholdstrueforthehomeWiFiroutersthatarestrictlypersonal,whichisbothunnecessary(awell-placedroutercouldeasilyservemorethanoneapartment),wasteful(intermsofhardwareandenergy),responsibleforcongestingthewire-lessspectrum(reducingperformanceforeveryone),andpollutingtheenvironmentwithexcessmicrowaves.
Inacommons-basedeconomy,suchaccessinfrastructurecouldbeshared,allowingapartmentblockstoinstallonlythenecessarynumberofwirelessrouters.
P.
Antoniadis259Devices:Inadditiontoofferingdifferentdevicesforshareduse,onecouldalsoimagineconcurrentlysharingtheuseofscreenslikeapublicdis-playwhosecontentischoseninacollaborativewaysimilartoamusicjukebox.
Atatimeofhighlypersonalizedonlineexperiencesandthefilterbubblescreatedbythecurationofone'sFacebookandTwitternewsfeed,itisdifficult,thoughnotimpossible,toimaginesuchsharedhybridInternetexperiencesinwhichonlineandofflineinteractionshappenatthesametime.
Do-It-YourselfNetworkingWiredcommunicationsaremoreenergy-efficientthanwirelessbuttheyhaveincreaseddeploymentcostsandlimitedflexibility.
So,althoughatrulyorganicandsustainableInternetbuiltfromscratchshouldheavilydependonawiredinfrastructure,itisthroughwirelesstechnologyandgrassrootsmovementsthattodaylocalcommunitiescanactuallyclaimtheirrightstotheInternetanddeveloporganicalternativestoprivatizedinfrastructuresandcommercialservices.
Goingbacktoouranalogy,organicurbangardensmightnotbeabletocoverthenutritionneedsofacityinasustainableway,buttheydoprovideameansforbuildingawarenessandstimulatecitizenmotivationandengagement.
Similarly,wirelessDIYnetworksmightnotprovidetheoptimalsolutionintermsofresourceandenergyusageforcertaincommunicationneeds,buttheyareveryeffectivetoolsfortheemancipationandappropriationofICTtechnologybycitizenstowardthe"righttothehybridcity"(Antoniadis&Apostol,2014).
Evenincaseswhenlocalauthoritiesdoparticipateinthedeploymentandmanagementofnetworkinfrastructuresforthecommongood,wire-lesssolutionsofferameansofexperimentationanddivergencefromthestatusquo,whichhelpstosustaindiversityandadaptabilitytochange.
Fromapracticalperspective,theyalsoofferanon-intrusiveandprivacypreservingwaytoidentifythelocationofauserthemomenthe/shecon-nectstothenetwork,forexample,withouttheneedforconstantlyrecordinghis/herGPSlocation,allowingformore"intimate",anonymousTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
.
.
260yetdefactolocal,communicationsbetweenthoseinphysicalproximity.
Butlet'sfirstexplainhowDIY,orcommunity,networkswork.
Awirelessrouter,whichisaspecial-purposecomputer,candomorethanjustconnectadevicetotheInternet.
Itcouldalsohostaserveravirtualannouncementboardforablockofapartments,anonlineguest-bookforanurbangarden,afile-sharingplatformforaworkshop,andmanymore"self-hosted"webapplicationslikeWordpress,NextCloud,andEtherpad,whichanyonecanhostonaprivatewebserver.
Theseser-vicesareaccessiblethroughtherouter'swirelessantennausinganetworkname,aServiceSetIdentifier(SSID),exactlyasonewouldusewhenconnectingtoafreeorhomeWiFinetwork.
Theycanalsoappearauto-maticallyonasplashpageorcaptiveportalwhenyouopenyourbrowser(asisoftenthecaseinairports,cafes,andhotels).
Iftherouterisequippedwithasecondantenna,itcaneasilyconnecttoasimilarrouterresidinginthecoveragearea,thesizeofwhichdependsonthetypeofantennaandotherenvironmentalfactors.
Thefirstantennacanthenbeusedtoallowpeoplewiththeirpersonaldevicestoconnect;andthesecondtoexchangeinformationwiththeneighboringrouter.
Eachrouterthenbecomesa"node"inasmallnetwork.
Anyonewhoconnectstooneofthemcanaccessthepeopleandservicesofferedbytheothers.
Asmorenodesgetconnected,largerareasarecoveredandacommunitycanbeformed—initiallybytheownersofthenodes,andeventuallybyeveryoneinthearea.
Ofcourse,onecannoteasilybuildawholenetworklikethisbyoneself,butitisnotdifficulttobuildasinglenetworknodeusingcheaphardware(suchasaRaspberryPi)andfreeself-hostedsoftwaretodeploythesetoflocalservicesandapplicationsthatfitaspecificcontext(Antoniadis,2016a).
Communitywirelessnetworkshavebeenunderdevelopmentsincethelate1990sbytechenthusiastsandactivistsadvocatingforamoreopen,neutralanddemocraticinternet(Antoniadis,2016b;Medosch,2014).
Theyincludeamixoflocalservices,suchasfilesharingandlivestreaming(AWMN.
netandNinux.
org)andtheprovisionofInternetconnectivity.
Freifunk.
net,WlanSlovenja,Sarantaporo.
gr,andmanymorefocusonthisaspectinparticular.
Thereareimportantdifferencesbetweenvariousmodelsofgovernanceandtheconceptofthecommunityitself(Antoniadis,2016a;NavarroP.
Antoniadis261etal.
,2016).
Freifunkfollowsthe"freeinternetforall"approachanddependsmostlyonvoluntarycontributionsfromtheirmemberstoofferinternetconnectivity.
Ontheotherhand,Guifi.
netplacessignificantfocusontheconceptofthe"commons",implyingconcreteboundariesandresourcemanagementrules.
Ithasdevelopedauniquemodel(Baigetal.
,2015)inwhichthenetworkinfrastructureincludingfibercablesistreatedasseparatefromtheservicesitisinvolvedwithproviding.
CommunitynetworkslikeFreifunk.
netandGuifi.
nettakeadvantageoftheunlicensedWiFispectrumtocreatewirelessbackbonelinkswith-outtheneedtohaveaccesstoexpensiveinfrastructure.
AnantennaonaroofcanofferInternetaccessifitconnectstosomeplacewithin50kmofitslineofsightthathasconnectivity.
Ofcourse,solutionsforacommu-nityormunicipalitymayalsoincludethedeploymentoflocallyownedwiredinfrastructures.
Althoughtherearenumerousstoriesofsuccessfulcommunitynetworksaroundtheworld,theseinfrastructuresfacesignifi-canthurdlesthroughlegislationsthatfavorbigcommercialISPs(DulongdeRosnay,Giovanella,Messaud,&Tréguer,2016).
Similartothelegalfightsagainstfarmersthatkeeptheirownseeds,thedeploymentoflocalbroadbandsolutionsisoftenbeingconsideredanillegalorprohibitivelyexpensiveoptionforlocalauthoritiesornon-profitorganizations'activity.
TangibleReasonsWhyDespitethecriticalroleofcommunitynetworksforprovidingaffordableInternetaccesstounderprivilegedpopulations,itisimportanttorealizethatDIYnetworkingisagoodideaeveniftheInternetisubiquitousandfreeforeveryone—apositionthatmayappearextreme(seeAntoniadis,2016a).
Forexample,DIYnetworkingenablesthecreationofnetworkinfrastructuresofferingalternativeoptionsincaseofnaturaldisasters,asprovedtobethecaseduringHurricaneSandywhenpeoplereliedontheRedHookWiFiinitiativeinBrooklyn(Baldwin,2011).
Therearealsomanypoliticalreasonswhyoneshouldconsidertheuseoflocalnetworksforsupportinglocalonlineinteractionsrelatedtoprivacy,surveillance,andself-determination(Antoniadis,2016a).
Despitetheirsignificance,TheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
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262thesereasonsalonecannoteasilymotivatepeopletoengageinthecre-ationofDIYnetworksintheirneighborhoods.
ButevenifsomeonewouldtrustFacebookandGoogletostoreandanalyzetheirprivateinfor-mationfortheirowncommercialpurposes,thereisstillanimportantsocialthreatcreatedbythedominationoftheseglobalplatforms—namely,socialalienationandthelackoflocation-basedcollectiveawareness.
Focusingonthissocialdimension,DIYnetworkinghassomecharac-teristicsthatcouldhelpdesignerstoresolvethetensionbetweenano-nymitythatallowsforfreedomofexpressionandidentitythathelpstobuildtrustandcommunity,inmoredesirablewaysthanthecorre-spondingInternet-basedsolutions.
Inotherwords,theycanuseDIYnetworkingsolutionstocreateabalancebetweentheanonymityofferedbymoderncitiesandthesocialcontrolintraditionallocalcommunitiesbygeneratingICT-mediatedlocation-basedcollectiveawarenesswithlowcoststotimeandprivacy.
ThemostrelevantmetaphorhereisthesidewalkwhichJaneJacobspraisedasaplaceforessentialinformalinteractionsbetweenstrangersthatcanachieveaverydelicatebalancebetweenprivacyandpublicexposure(1961).
Ifcarefullydesigned,hybridICTapplicationsthatenablespontaneousinformationsharingbetweenstrangerscanoffernewwaystosupportthecapacityofthesidewalkincontemporarycitiestogeneratinglocalknowledgeandasenseofbelonging.
But,insteadofrelyingonprivateICTplatformsmanagedbycommercialcompanies,DIYnetworkingofferstheoptiontostimulateandempowercitizenstousetheircreativityforsettinguplocalfreelyaccessiblenetworkshostingcontext-specificcollectiveaware-nessapplications.
Still,onecouldalwaysask,"WhynothostalltheseniceapplicationsonaserveraccessiblethroughtheInternetorlocalwiredsolutions"Theanswertypicallydependsonthespecificenvironmentbuttherearefourimportantcharacteristicsofwirelesstechnologythatmakeitaninterest-ingcandidateforbuildinganorganicInternetfromthebottomup:Allpotentialusersofalocalwirelessnetworkareindefactophysicalproximity.
Theoptionofanonymity,inadditiontobetechnicallyP.
Antoniadis263feasible,isalsomuchlessintimidatingthaninthecaseofglobalonlineplatforms.
Thiscanfacilitateplayfulandopeninteractionsbetweenpeoplethatwouldenjoyexchanginginformationwiththoseinprox-imitybutwith"noprivatecommitments"(Jacobs,1961).
ADIYnetworkneedstobesetupanddeployedbysomeonethathasaccesstothebuiltenvironment,suchasaresidentwithawell-locatedbalcony,anownerofacentralstore,oralocalinstitutionwiththeauthoritytoinstallstreetsideinfrastructure.
Thiscanensurethatthelocalnetworkisdesignedandcustomizedbymembersofthecommu-nityideallyinaninclusiveandconvivialmanner.
Wirelessnetworksaremucheasiertodeploythanwired,andthiscanbedonebypracticallyanyone.
Theyarealsoinherentlymobileallow-ingforcreativeandflexibleuses,butalsoforprovocationschallengingthestatusquothatarelessintrusivethangraffitiforexamplebutmuchricherasameansofexpression.
Beingtangibleinfrastructurethemselves,wirelessnetworkscanbenaturallyembeddedinotherartifactsandurbaninterventions,suchasapublicdisplay,acoloredbench,aphonebooth,orevenamobilekiosk,andtheycancreatenaturallyhybridspacesthatencouragetem-poraryparticipationandplayfulengagement.
Thisalsoenablestheinclusionofnon-users,asinthecaseoftheBerlinDesignResearchLab'sHybridLetterbox(Unteidigetal.
,2015)andPolylogue.
Seehttp://www.
design-research-lab.
org/projects/polyloge-1/.
Finally,alocalICTinfrastructurewhichfacilitatescommunicationexclusivelybetweenthosethatcaneasilymeetfacetofacecouldbedesignedexactlyforthispurpose.
Thus,energyefficiencywouldnotbeonlytheresultofthelowerenergyrequiredwhencommunicationtakesplacethroughlocalwirelessnetworksasdescribedabove,butitwouldalsobetheproductofpeople'sabilitytospendmoretimemeetingtheirsocialandpsychologicalneedsawayfromtheircomputersandmobiledevices.
DespitethemanygoodreasonswhylocalDIYnetworksmakesense,thereisstilllittleunderstandingoftheirpotentialvalueandlittlewilling-nesstoinvestintheirinfrastructureandspecializedservices.
ThegoodTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
.
.
264newsisthatsuchlocalnetworksdonotneedtobeintroducedasareplace-mentfortheInternet,butasalternativelocalsolutionswhichallowforexperimentationandnet-diversityandwhichcanbecomplementarytoglobalservices.
Net-diversitycouldbeindeedtheultimateargumentwhichmaybeeffectiveamidstcurrenteconomic,social,andpoliticalcrises,becausepeoplerealizetheycannolongerassumethingswillalwaysremainthesameandtheyneedalternativesfortheexceptionaltimesahead.
KevinKelly(2010)answeredhisquestion"whattechnologywants"byspeculatingthatitwantsto"playwiththeborderlines",to"keepchangingthegameinordertokeepplaying".
DIYnetworkstrytoplaywiththeborderlinesoftheInternet.
Theyhavethepotentialtobecomearealgamechanger,unleashingpeople'screativityandgivingbirthtomil-lionsofsmall,self-organizedhybridnetworksthatcouldeventuallybeinterconnectedinpairsorthroughbackbonecommunitywirelessnet-works,likeinNicholasNegroponte(2002)'s"lilypadsandfrogs"meta-phorfrom15yearsago.
SuchascenariocouldactuallyechotheearlyyearsoftheInternetwithanexplosionofalternatives,butnowatanurban(insteadofaglobal)scale.
SynergiesandComplementaritiesIfonewantstobepragmatic,oneneedstorealizethatduringthetransi-tiontotheorganicInternet,wewillnotbealoneintheworld.
Mostimportantly,wewillnotbeabletoaffordlosingglobalservicesofferedbytheInternettodaybutwhichcannotbeprovidedatthelocallevel.
Aglobalinfrastructureisthereforerequiredandcorporationswillalwaysexisttocompetewithlocalsolutionsinprovidinglocalservices.
So,inadditiontoaglobalvision,wealsoneedaplanforthetransition,forscal-ingup,andfortheformationofpotentialsynergieswithsimilarinitia-tivesaroundothercommonresourcessuchasfood,housing,education,health,andtheeconomy.
Indeed,similarformsoflocalactionorbettertoolsforconvivialityhavebeengainingalotofattention.
Theseinclude,forexample,com-P.
Antoniadis265plementarycurrencies,cooperativehousingmodels,andgrassrootseducationandhealth.
Thoseandotherexamplesofcommoningactiv-itieswillneedsophisticatedICTtoolstohelpmakeefficientuseofhumanresourcesandimproveaccounting,trustbuilding,andcol-laboration.
ThevisionoflocalDIYnetworksmightbepromotedbysuchcomplementarylocalcommoningactivitiesasacompatiblewaytobuildtheICTsolutionsrequiredfortheirsuccessfuloperation.
Intheotherdirection,treatingnetworkinfrastructureasacommonscanalsoprovideinspirationforthemanagementofothercommonresourcesandactasatriangulatorforstimulatingsocialcontactandcommunitybuilding.
PuttingThingsTogether:TheCaseofNeNa1Abigadvantageofthe"organicInternet",likeorganicfarming,isthatitdoesnotneedbiginvestorsandventurecapitaliststobetriedout.
Adeterminedgroupofpeopleisenoughtodevelopsuccessfulprototypesthatcanbeeasilyreplicatedelsewhere,likethevariousurbancommunitygardensaroundtheworldorthenetworksforseedexchange.
SuchadeterminedgroupisanewcooperativehousingprojectinZurich,NeNa1,http://nena1.
ch,currentlycounting200members.
NeNa1isthelatestinaseriesofsimilarprogressive"youngcoopera-tivehousing"initiatives,likeKraftwerk1andKalkbreite;seehttp://o500.
org/.
Itsinitialconceptionisgeneratedattheneighborhoodlevel,Kreis5,andproposestocomplementthefourexistingneigh-borhoodswithafifthonebuiltfromscratch,attheedgeofthisdis-trict,onthecurrentCarparkplatz(seeFig.
13.
1).
Thisfifthneighborhoodwitharound500inhabitantswillshowcaseanewmodelforsustainablelivinginthecitygoingbeyondhousing,andincludinginnovationsintheareasoffood,technology,andeconomy,amongothers.
HowwoulditsinternalcommunicationinfrastructurelooklikeWoulditbethetypicalcollectionofwirelessroutersineveryapartmentTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
.
.
266andsharedspace,connectedindividuallytotheselectedISP,Swisscom,Orange,andthelikebyeachresidentWoulditincludealsoan"Intranet"platformhostedbythecity'smostpopularwebhostingproviderfortheirinternalco-livingorganization,forexample,roomreservations,assem-blies,coordinationofcommonwork,socialinteractions,etc.
Oritwouldbesomething"different"andmore"organic"Whichwouldbesomereasonablechoicesregardingtherequiredlocalinfrastructure,consumptionlimits,sharingpracticesandsoftwaredesigninthiscaseLet'strytoimagineafewanswerstothesequestionsbasedonthedis-cussionabove.
Fig.
13.
1AspeculativemodeloftheNeNa1neighborhoodwheretodayislocatedaparkingstructureandabusstation,acrossthemaintrainstation.
DrawingbyHansWidmer.
Seehttp://nena1.
chP.
Antoniadis267First,theNeNa1settlementwillhavealesswastefulwaytoallowaccesstotheInternetinthefirstplace.
AleasedlinewillbehiredbyalocalISPthatcanaccommodatealltheInternettrafficproducedbyits500residentsandvisitors,andmuchmore,andwhosecostwillbesubsi-dizedbytherents.
ThewholesettlementwillbewiredwithfiberopticcablesthatwillprovidelimitlessaccesstothissharedInternetconnection,whenoneconnectstheirlaptopordesktopcomputer.
Forwirelessaccess,theminimumrequiredwirelessaccesspoints,mostofwhichwillbesolar-powered,aretobeplacedinstrategiclocationsallusingthesamenetworkname,SSID,toallowforeasyaccessfrommostplacesinthesettlement,butmakingsurethatcertain"Internet-free"zonesdoexist.
Second,asmalllocaldatacenterwillbeinstalledatasuitablelocationtoreducetheenergyrequiredforcooling(e.
g.
,insidethe"freezerroom").
Itwillhostavarietyoflocalservices,implementedwithfreeandopen-sourcesoftware,someofwhichwillbealsoaccessiblethroughtheInternet.
Thesewillinclude:acloudserviceforstoringfileslikeNextcloud(similartoDropbox)andane-mailserverforbothglobalandlocale-mailexchanges.
adigitalarchivewithmaterialfromthehistoryofcooperativehousinginZurich,andalocalWikipediafordocumentingexperiencesandknowledgeforthereplicationofthissuccessfulmodel.
asuiteoflocalservicesincludingonlinesocialnetworking,announce-mentboard,deliberationanddecision-making,roomreservations,andotherschedulingactivities,andmanagementofworkinggroups,amongothers.
managementplatformsforvariouscommoningactivitiessuchasafoodcooperative,andalocaleconomyforserviceexchangeandself-help.
aseparateonlinespaceaccessibleonlyfromthesettlement,whichallowanonymouscommunicationforexpressingneeds,complaints,andavarietyofplayfulinteractions.
Everysharedspacewillincludeahybridletterbox,andasetofdifferenttypesofinputcardswillallowpeopletoparticipatethroughhandwritingTheOrganicInternet:BuildingCommunicationsNetworks.
.
.
268indifferentonlinediscussions(frommakinganannouncementorcom-plaint,toparticipatingintheweeklyknowledgecompetition).
Atthecommonworkshopspace,therewillbeweeklyseminarsonthepoliticsoftechnology,thevarioussocialandethicalissuesthatappearwhenhumancommunicationismediatedthroughdigitalplatforms,andhands-onworkshopsforbuildingyourownnetworkandonlineservices.
Sharedspaceswillbealsoequippedwithbigshareddisplaysforvisual-izingdifferentlocalactivitiestakingplaceindifferentonlineplaces.
Forexample,from18h00to20h00aselectionofthemostpopularphotosinthelocalphotosharingplatformwillbedisplayed,andfrom20h00to22h00themostpopularmoviewillbebroadcasted.
Finally,asetofdirectionalantennasontherooforfibercables,ifpos-sible,willallowneighboringsettlementstoconnecttothelocalnetworkandhosttheirownlocalservicesinthesamedatacenter.
Thiswillopenupthepossibilityforservicesthatconcernthewholedistrictlikethemanagementofthemicro-center,announcementsofevents,etc.
ConcludingNotesLikemoney,food,medicine,education,andtransport,thereareplacesintheworldwherepeoplehavetoomuchInternet,notonlyintermsofenergyconsumptionbutalsomorethanneededforahealthyandbal-ancedlife.
Ontheotherhand,therearemanypeople(morethan50%ofworld'spopulation)thatarepracticallydisconnectedandthusdeprivedfrombasicknowledgeandcommunicationservices.
Mostworryingly,thepromiseofconnectingtheworldcomesfrombigcorporationswhoseeinthedisconnectedmoredataandmorepower,whiletheconnectedaregettingmoreandmorealienatedandaddictedbythepracticesofthesamecorporations.
ChangingthisparadigmwithamoreorganicInternetbasedontheprinciplesofsharingandcommoningsoundsimpossibletohappenataglobalscalewithouttheparallelchangeofthewhole"system"itself.
However,projectslikeNeNa1offertheopportunitytoimaginerealisticoutopiasthatcouldincludeelementsofthealternativesolutionsalreadyP.
Antoniadis269developedbyDIYandcommunitynetworkingactivistsaroundtheworld.
Ofcourse,"organic"softwareandhardwaresolutionswillnotbeenoughandwillneedtobecomplementedbyastrongnetworkofinitia-tivesthatwillprovideeducation,training,andsupport.
Theconceptof"virality"hereisrelevant:inaworldwherecommuni-cationissoeasy,bothgoodandbadideascantravelincrediblyfastandallthatisneededperhapsistherighttwist,agoodandeasilyreplicableideathatcanturnthingsaroundeveninmomentswheneverythingseemstogofrombadtoworse.
Thisalsobringstomindthe"thinkglobal,actlocal"conceptwiththesubtledifferencethattheglobalthinkingisnotaboutthe"system"itselfbutaboutits"seeds",andthisisagainanimportantconceptinagricul-turethatneedstobeintroducedalsointheInternetdomain.
AcknowledgmentTheresearchleadingtothisworkhasbeenpartiallysup-portedbytheEUHorizon2020projectsMAZI,H2020-ICT-2015,no.
687983.
http://mazizone.
eu,andnetCommons,H2020-ICT-2015,no.
688768.
http://netcommons.
eu.
ThewritingofthischapteranditsGermantranslation,byThomasRaoseta,wassupportedbyStiftungSergioAgustoni,forthebookproj-ect"DieAndereStadt",editedbyHansWidmerandpublishedbyParanoiaCityVerlag,Zurich.
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PanayotisAntoniadisistheco-founderoftheZurich-basednonprofitorgani-zationNetHood.
Hehasaninterdisciplinaryprofilewithbackgroundonthedesignandimplementationofdistributedsystems(ComputerScienceDepartment,UniversityofCrete),Ph.
D.
ontheeconomicsofpeer-to-peernet-works(AthensUniversityofEconomicsandBusiness),post-doconpoliciesforthefederationofsharedvirtualizedinfrastructures(UPMCSorbonneUniversites),andinterdisciplinaryresearchontheroleofICTsforbridgingthedigitalwiththephysicalspaceincities(ETHZurich).
Today,Panayotisistryingtocombineresearchandactionindifferentareasofself-organizationincludingcommunitynetworksandDIYnetworking,complementarycurrencies,coop-erativehousing,andgrassrootseducation.
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