🔗Introduction

In a recently published collaborative episode between HATCH, ThreeFold, and Hub Culture’s Chronicle Discussions, innovative minds converged in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to delve into the intersections of technology, digital sovereignty, and the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI).

🔗African Regenerative Futures - Part 1

Led by Tate Chamberlain, the conversation featured Stan Stalnaker (Founder and CEO of Hub Culture), Kristof de Spiegeleer (co-founder of ThreeFold), and Kalebu Gwalugano (Founder and CEO of Sarufi), each offering unique perspectives on the open-source Internet, the future of digital communities, AI development, and data sovereignty.

Kalebu introduced Sarufi, a platform he created to empower developers and business owners to develop tailored chatbots in local languages, utilizing AI technologies. Gualugano’s vision resonated with Stan and Kristof, who emphasized the importance of community-driven initiatives and open-source principles in driving technological innovation.

Hub Culture’s commitment to digital identity, asset tokenization, and AI governance aligned closely with ThreeFold’s mission to revolutionize Internet infrastructure and promote individual sovereignty. The two entities showcased the potential for collaborative efforts in advancing AI capabilities while maintaining ethical standards and data sovereignty.

The conversation covered a range of topics:

• Evolving nature of AI: Ethical considerations in AI development; Concerns about data privacy and algorithmic bias; Importance of responsible AI development
• Zanzibar’s tech scene and initiatives by ThreeFold alongside Sarufi & Hubcluture: Potential to shape digital communities and AI development; Foster collaboration and promote open-source principles; Prioritize digital sovereignty and human-centric design; Guided by ethical principles and community engagement; Aim to create a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable digital future
• Collaboration between Kristof, Stan, and Kalebu: Convergence of values and visions; Emphasis on open-source software, digital identity, and AI development; Shared journey towards empowering and ethically sound technology; Exploration of AI, digital sovereignty, and community-driven innovation
• Exploration of AI’s Present & Future: Questions of sovereignty, control, and intelligence; Intersecting paths of technology, community, and digital innovation; AI as a sovereign being; Challenge to conventional views of AI development; Current limitations of AI; Importance of understanding ethical implications

🔗African Regenerative Futures - Part 2

The African Regenerative Futures Summit in Zanzibar brought together key voices to discuss Tanzania’s development opportunities in a lively manner, focusing on technology, education, and entrepreneurship. Veronica Likunama and Victor Muhagachi emphasized the importance of local context and community support in overcoming systemic challenges. Dr. Stephanie Dungu’s entrepreneurial journey underscored the need for innovative solutions in healthcare. Participants advocated for a unique, self-sufficient development path for Africa, prioritizing local talent, sustainable practices, and collaborative efforts to foster holistic growth and redefine success.

You can listen to the full podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, or Apple Podcast

🔗ThreeFold x H.E.R DAO

On Monday, ThreeFold and H.E.R DAO, a women-centered developer DAO with a focus on inclusivity, joined forces to host a meetup in Dar Es Salaam, attracting over 50 students, developers, and tech enthusiasts. Read more about the event.

H.E.R DAO has already established a presence in East Africa, aiming to diversify the blockchain ecosystem and uplift marginalized communities through initiatives like Hackathons and conferences. Their mission focuses on fostering WEB 3 adoption and empowering individuals across the continent. Discover more

This collaboration sent a powerful message that diversity is not just a goal to strive for but a necessity for driving meaningful change in the tech industry. Together, we laid the groundwork for future collaborations and initiatives that will continue to champion diversity, inclusion, and empowerment in the digital space in Tanzania.

Moreover, our commitment to diversity and inclusion extends beyond partnerships; it is embedded in our initiatives like Dunia Yetu. Through Dunia Yetu, we aim to empower women and youth in Tanzania by providing access to education, opportunities, and resources in the tech sector. By fostering diversity and inclusion in Tanzania’s digital ecosystem, we can unlock the untapped potential of women and youth, driving economic growth and innovation.

Each step forward brings us closer to realizing our vision of a more inclusive and equitable technology industry, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of background or identity. Discover our Dunia Yetu initiative and follow our latest developments.

🔗Vision of Collective Empowerment

In the heart of Tanzania, a transformative movement is underway, known as Dunia Yetu, Swahili for “Our World.”. More than just a name; it embodies a vision of collective empowerment and digital self-reliance. Dunia Yetu is a beacon of unity, encouraging Tanzanians to take control of their digital destiny. It seeks to redefine the nation’s digital landscape, fostering a future where citizens are not just users but architects of their online world.

🔗Empowering Tanzania’s Youth and Future

At its core, Dunia Yetu is about empowering Tanzanians to reclaim ownership of their digital infrastructure. It envisions a future where the benefits of the Internet are harnessed by the people, for the people. For millions of Tanzanians, Dunia Yetu could represent more than just connectivity; it’s a gateway to education, opportunity, and economic empowerment. By democratizing access to the Internet, Dunia Yetu will open doors for entrepreneurship, innovation, and collaboration, especially for the youth. With this project, Tanzania’s youth are empowered to shape their digital future, harnessing technology to overcome challenges and seize opportunities. It’s not just about connectivity; it’s about unlocking the full potential of Tanzania’s next generation.

🔗Looking Ahead to 2024:

As Dunia Yetu gains momentum, stay tuned for exciting updates and milestones. In 2024, this transformative project will see the light, ushering in a new era of digital empowerment for Tanzania.

Together, through Dunia Yetu, Tanzanians are building a brighter, more inclusive future—one where the digital world truly belongs to us all.

In 2023, we had the pleasure of hosting two summits in Zanzibar – one in July and another in November, named the Africa Regenerative Future Summit. These events brought together leading innovators and investors committed to advancing human flourishing, with a specific emphasis on science and technology shaping the trajectory of Africa’s future.

During the inaugural summit in July, Zanzibar’s President, Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, honored us with his presence. In a formal declaration, he publicly expressed the government’s dedication to establishing a digital free zone, a locally-owned Internet infrastructure, and an incubator to support young local innovators – all in collaboration with ThreeFold – and their commitment to the ICT sector as a whole.

The second summit saw the birth of Dunia Yetu (meaning “Our World” in Swahili), a collaborative movement forged in partnership with a cohort of tech developers and innovators from Dar Es Salaam. This initiative is driven by a shared commitment to reshape the digital landscape in Tanzania and Africa. Its goals include empowering coders, fostering economic development, and constructing a sovereign, autonomous digital ecosystem for a more promising digital future.

Looking ahead to 2024, our vision includes a continued series of gatherings focused on OurWorld, ThreeFold, and other projects and individuals prioritizing a planet-first, people-first approach to support Tanzania and the broader African continent.

More information:

• Summit I: Read Zanzibar Seeks to Become a Digital FreeZone (via The Citizen) and Mwinyi Commits to Improvement of Digital Spaces (via Daily News Tanzania) for further details.
• Summit II: Learn more about Dunia Yetu
• Dunia Yetu: Read Sovereign Internet - A game changer for Tanzania (via The Citizen)

An example to illustrate this challenge is the fact that up to 60% of Ethereum (the world’s second most-popular blockchain) nodes run on centralized cloud providers and 25% of them run on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

While the topic is being addressed, it isn’t being solved at scale. The good news is that ThreeFold can play a large part in solving it.

Why should blockchains make this move?

The blockchain movement, as mentioned, is very heavily tied to the movement around decentralization. Cryptocurrencies represent the move away from centralized banks as the authorities and gatekeepers around money – just as ThreeFold and similar projects represent the move away from centralized clouds as the authorities and gatekeepers around data. The thing is, if blockchains are to rely on centralized cloud for hosting, they aren’t truly embodying decentralization.

Understandably, many blockchains have chosen centralized cloud providers in the past because there wasn’t much of an alternative. But now, the Decentralized Cloud (DeCloud) movement has changed all of that.

Here is how some specific audiences can benefit:

For Node Operators

Any full node or validator node can run on ThreeFold’s Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Cloud, making that particular Blockchain even more community-owned, and more decentralized from an IT/cloud level. Any node operator can choose to run their nodes from any farmer location on the ThreeFold Grid, totally peer-to-peer between the chosen farmer and the node operator. The deployed workloads are computed in a P2P manner, no middle party involved.

For dApp Developers

Web3/Blockchain developers can use ThreeFold’s P2P Cloud - offering both compute and storage - to build and power their applications in a truly decentralized cloud infrastructure, both blockchain-native and cloud-native. A strong advantage here is that developers have the ability to leverage Kubernetes, Docker, S3, and other cloud-native tools (all compatible / integrated with the ThreeFold) to power and optimize their data processing capabilities, as well as the overall functionality of their dApps. But the sweet spot is that it is deployed on a decentralized IT infrastructure, close to where users would be located.

But why choose ThreeFold over other DeCloud projects?

There may be bigger names in the space, but ThreeFold’s technology and offerings are much more comprehensive than the rest. ThreeFold provides decentralized storage, compute, and network all under one roof (whereas most other projects offer only one of the three) and as mentioned, we have created an environment for developers which is highly-compatible to the developer tools and solutions they use today. Further, ThreeFold is building new infrastructure from the ground up (rather than relying on extra space in data centers) and the technology is truly peer-to-peer.

We already have a number of partners in the space who recognize these advantages.

Any blockchain protocol or dApp, whether operating DeFi, NFTs, DEXs, etc, will at some point need to leverage the power of the decentralized cloud and escape from centralized cloud providers. We’re seeing some of that adoption from a decentralized storage side with IPFS, which has been adopted by many dApps, and others – but as a developer, you will have to think twice, not just about where your/your users’ data is being stored, but also about how (and where) your app is computed and powered.

Participate now in our quest to fully decentralize the Internet by becoming a node on our grid or buying TFT.