The following post presents a vision of an open source operating system, which we at The Open Co-op believe would help create a collaborative, sustainable economy. See the video at the end of this post for an introduction to the concepts and ideas behind PLANET.
PLANET is not actually a software project, it is a vision which aims to illustrate some of the concepts and advantages of a collaborative, user owned and managed economic platform.
The original PLANET concept was designed in 2004 for the same purpose and was updated in January 2017 with the ideas below. The concept below is presented as a phone-based ‘open source operating system’, simply because people are used to using new technology on their phones. A stripped down, or beta, version of PLANET could be produced as an app – and if you’re struggling to understand the purpose of PLANET, you could simply imagine it as a new app on your phone, which contains other apps – a bit like WeChat except that with PLANET there’s:
- No adverts
- No external investors siphoning off value or exploiting your data
- No need to type in all your details to sign up to new services
- No need to create new passwords for each different app or service
- No spam or unwanted marketing – unless you sign up for it!
The purpose of the PLANET concept is to illustrate, through a Graphical User Interface, what it might be like to interact with a new economic system which has been built collaboratively as an open source project. PLANET would be owned and controlled by its members, giving them complete control over how it is run, developed and updated via proposals, and votes on other members’ proposals.
PLANET incorporates concepts such as:
- Agent-centric architecture – putting data into context for you, the user
- Personal data licenses – which enable you to license your data to service providers on your terms
- Portable reputation – so when you sign up to a new service or app you don’t have to build a new Reputation from scratch
- Alternative currencies – so you can trade with other members and co-ops using Hours, like in a time-bank, or using Co-op Coins
- Group management – with embedded discussion tools, calendars, task management, decision making and budgeting tools, so groups can easily evolve into collaborative projects and even trading businesses, without requiring ‘incorporation’
- Local relevance – members publish posts using @mentions, #tags and local relevance to create rich data which can be highly filtered to help build valuable communities in the real, offline world
- Delegative voting – members can debate and vote on any issue which affects them, or delegate their vote to someone they trust. As a multi-stakeholder co-op PLANET’s individual users, Local Co-ops (groups & businesses) and Coordinators (who manage PLANET) have a fair say in how the operating system works
These are just some of the ideas we believe would help create a collaborative, sustainable economy.
Download PLANET to your phone to become a co-owner of the Global Open Co-op, a democratic network of people building better quality lives.
PLANET is owned and controlled by its members, who collectively and democratically decide how it is run.
PLANET contains a suite of interoperable apps, designed to help you collaborate with your local community, wherever you are in the world.
With PLANET, you control who has access to your data, and on what terms. You can licence specific data to different service providers (apps) on the fly. So you don’t need to type in all your details to ‘sign up’ to a new app and you can revoke an apps permissions at any time.
With PLANET you can:
Access a whole range of collaborative tools in just a couple of clicks. From the NEW / VIEW menu you can:
– Call any other user for free
– Text (chat & email combined)
– Post and view any media
– Add tasks (for yourself or others)
– Form and join groups
– Trade goods or services
– Manage payments
– Help build and run PLANET 
With PLANET you can:
Join and form all kinds of Groups on the fly.
Groups can be as simple as a few friends chatting, or might involve many people working on a specific project. Groups come with built in discussion tools, calendars, task management, decision making and budgeting tools, so they can easily evolve into collaborative projects and even trading businesses. 
With PLANET you can:
Trade with other members and co-ops using Hours, like in a time-bank, or using Co-op Coins, a new currency designed to facilitate a fair and sustainable economy.
You can earn Hours or Co-op Coins by selling goods or services or offering your time to Groups which offer payments as rewards. 
With PLANET you can:
Find things near you to help you get involved with your local community. PLANET helps you share your time, meals, drinks and even your resources and ideas, to help build valuable communities in the real, offline world.
Members publish posts using @mentions, #tags AND local relevance to create rich data which can be highly filtered. 
With PLANET you can:
Follow people and organisations for specific subjects AND local relevance. This enables you to build highly customised news feeds to help you cut through the noise.
You can rate and reply to any posts and these ratings become part of the author’s reputation on PLANET. 
Your Reputation is calculated according to the degree to which you have verified your identity, reviews on the skills you ‘claim’ you have, ratings on your posts and trades and your ecological footprint.
You own your Reputation so it travels with you you wherever you interact on PLANET, so when you sign up to a new service or app you don’t have to build a new Reputation from scratch. 
DATA LICENSES
When you sign up to a new service or app you license your data to the service
provider on your terms. To create a Data License you set permissions for the data you are willing to share.
These licenses replace the T&Cs of capitalist platforms and you can revoke an apps permissions any time. 
With PLANET you can:
Make proposals and participate in how PLANET is run. You can debate and vote on any issue which
affects you, or delegate your vote to someone you trust.
As a multi-stakeholder co-op PLANET’s individual users, Local Co-ops (groups & businesses) and Coordinators (who manage PLANET) have a fair say in how the operating system works.
PLANET is a democratic network of people building better quality lives.
PLANET is an open source operating system for a collaborative, sustainable economy.
With PLANET there’s:
No adverts.
No external investors siphoning off value or exploiting your data.
No need to type in all your details to sign up to new services.
No need to create new passwords for each different app or service.
No spam or inappropriate marketing – unless you sign up for it!
Concept and graphics by Oli SB @defactodesign
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