Making Communities More Self-Sufficient and Economically Strong

companies are increasingly moving their compute and data infrastructures to the cloud, where they pay others to manage the intricacies of buying and configuring the computing and networking equipment necessary to carry out their business
· this central part of business computing is known as infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
· companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft provide this essential service for a usage-based fee
· that is, as a business uses these services there is a transfer of economic power—and often business data too—to the service provider
· but what if there is another way?
· what if these computing services were essentially free and under the complete control of the community that runs them?

introducing infrastructure as a community service (IaaCS)

businesses can obtain free or low cost and high availability computing services that work together and focus on their local community
· a communitys local businesses access the shared community computing infrastructure to join their operations into one cooperative team
· this way, a local care engine and drivetrain specialist can join forces with the neighboring car body and paint specialist, and the local tire and wheel shop, to provide service to local clients, similar to the white glove service that high-end car dealers provide to their clients
· these cooperative business partnerships are a way for small businesses to join forces to enhance the experience that they offer clients, with minimal monetary investment and training

with their business operations joined under one community-owned and community-managed infrastructure, the local businesses are able to offer the type of service that only big companies can provide efficiently
· for example, instead of making phone calls to determine the status of a car while it is at the engine and drivetrain specialist, the paint shop can access that information directly thru the system that they both share
· the same goes for many types of local businesses, and client needs and wants
· instead of paying a cloud company to manage their computing infrastructure, local businesses can get that service for free, except for a small per-transaction fee (2 percent) on interactions where more than 5 USD is exchanged

by providing at the community level the type of customer experience that only large businesses like Amazon, Facebook, and Google can provide, small local business can attract and keep the patronage of the communitys residents, while also enhancing the communitys economic viability
· instead of relying on multinational entities that do not offer economic advantages to many small communities, consumers can rely on their local businesses to receive great service and ensure that their dollars remain local

this is why PeepSocial (PeepS) is at its core: a communitys public, local, and free computing and information-management infrastructure

building PeepSocial with architectural participants

PeepSocial is a community computing infrastructure that is shared by local businesses so that together they can provide experiences that rival those of the big multinational enties that dominate consumer mindshare
· the entities that build and maintain the hardware and software that operates this infrastructure are known as architectural participants
· one of the founding participants is Nerd Brawn

to help fund the work needed to take PeepSocial off the ground, Nerd Brawn entered its proposal for the project to TheVentureCity, a venture-capital firm that funds and supports diverse founders
· receiving investment and support from TheVentureCity would be great
· however, if TheVentureCity passes on the opportunity to participate in the revolution of information ownership and control, and the empowerment end enrichment of small businesses and communities, the next step is going directly to business owners and chambers of commerce to learn about their needs and wants, and to show them how a community-controlled computing infrastructure will be able to satisfy those requirements at very low cost
· with low operational cost, high flexibility and availability, and deep sharing of common business processes throughout a community, each business is made more capable, more efficient, and better able to satisfy the needs and wants of the communitys inhabitants, all while contributing to the autonomy and economic growth of their communities

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update: TheVentureCity passed on PeepSocial this time, so on with the vision