Our redaction is discovering the best digital solutions developed by tech geeks in B2BALTIC hub. Today we definitely want to talk about DigitalTown, our US base public company that – after the exciting London Hackathon 2017 event – targets global development of smartcities with a new business model. DigitalTown is a disruptive company that aims to bring control back to local communities in an economy that often favors “winner take all”! The structure is growing quickly and thrives on the management skill and lessons that venture capitalist shareholder Rob Monster has learned over the years of ventures.

DigitalTown hosted hackathon 2017 in London

Hackathon events are accompanied by DigitalTown that will continue hosting more events around the world! There were almost 400 registrations and over 100 teams that participated in the event of the Tech-Week in London city, under the sign Smart.London! Independent entrepreneurs or event organizers can create a “hackathon” in their area and test drive this revolutionary cutting-edge, blockchain-based technology.

How it builds up several local communities involving smart people

DigitalTown engages smart members with important public roles. You can participate too. For example community leader help businesses and citizens get the most out of their city. Content Creators are the creative gurus behind the interesting content that appears on each city portal. They earn Community Points for their participation and share in the success of their community like the leaders. IT Developers improve the already available community apps and the smart-wallets, create a community into their own platforms. They interconnect the API and deal with verification of the digital identity. Businesses make the trade and receive a free storefront to promote their products and services so that they appear in search results for the local community. Venture Capitalists can invest for impact in DigitalTown, creating value and gaining together with the community. The investors may for example acquire the license to operate and expand their own community as much as they want. However, equity stakeholders at all levels may participate. In the picture (above) you see the pyramid of a digital operating system of modern smart-city: city governance, economic development, civic engagement, digital inclusion, smart tourism.

Understanding the importance of new type of digital communities, with P2P.

This is finally a P2P (peer-to-peer) as a real B2B (business to business). This technology believes in a future of thriving, sovereign, local economies. It believes in co-creating abundance. But why? Well, around the world, the evidence of growing income inequality is apparent. The current model of winner-take-all capitalism is leaving a growing number of able-bodied persons behind as the spoils of growing productivity are rewarded to those with the greatest access to financial capital. DigitalTown powers a connected network of self-funding community and commerce platforms where residents and visitors search, connect, share and transact locally. Directly in a way that empowers everyone to realize their productive capacity and where more money stays in each local economy. This way empowers not only metropolitan areas but also small cities. How possible? Every user that signs up receives a free smart-wallet for both conventional and cryptocurrency transactions. Each resident is provided with a verified and permanent digital identity and combines the identity with a public facing profile, location, personal preferences, links to social media accounts and the ability to pay a person or business. Then a turn-key digital storefront platforms across retail, services, dining and lodging is provided. Each merchant can secure a free digital storefront for selling locally and globally. The result – we have seen – is that more money stays in local economies and more citizens are able to engage in co-creating qualify of life.

What does DigitalTown target and provide in the Nordics

DigitalTown is working with a network of communities around the world to introduce self-funding platforms that are locally governed and locally owned, where residents and visitors search, connect, share and transact locally and directly and with little or zero service fees. Each implementation of the platform and App can be owned by local stakeholders, whether by the governing entity or by the residents themselves. Each local resident can secure a permanent digital identity which can be validated by one or more verifying authorities. The smart-wallet is the link between an individual, their data, and their crypto assets within the network. An Ethereum blockchain implementation provides the platform for the smart contracts that enable instant payments and a token based economy. The model is designed to scale from the smallest village to the largest metropolitan area, providing a framework for local governance with global interoperability. Blockchain can be a technology for good. It enables DigitalTown to realize a Smart City platform that is owned by the people of a city, that rewards co-creation and engagement, and that supports a peer-to-peer economy. DigitalTown believes that Nordic area is the right area to talk about smart cities development and p2p. Because of the highest level of education of the Nordics and Baltics, as well as the advanced internet and speed. Nordic people have historically been the more active in ordering products or services on-line in the past 15 years. Internet in the Nordics is the faster than in all Europe.

Community engagement

DigitalTown has clear how much important engagement in a community is. Thereby the platform has added several facilities with this purpose: local map with pins, labels or tags;  local news with live updates on local news, enabling comments and social shares; discussions and polls from anyone; creation and sharing of local projects (example fix a local playground in the park) also allowing people to donate time, resources or money to the cause; messages with the ability to send through the App directly to a specific demographic of users (example, a coffee shop may want to tell you that a new blend of coffee is now available and invite you to try it). The shop will use community points to reward you (the reader) for reading the message.

Revenue sharing in the digital community

Let´s have a look at the revenues model of DigitalTown. Below we want to give an idea of the fees, the community (you) gain. They may be gradually reduced depending on amount of transactions.

• Peer to Peer Transfers Free
• Peer to Business Transfers 1% of amount transferred
• Lodging 12% Net on all reservations
• Retail 8% Net on all online purchases
• Dining – Takeout reservations 8% Net
• Dining – Table reservation 0.65 € per Table

White papers with clear explanation of the model

Also in investor relations, DigitalTown demonstrates clear conviction and care for details. A friendly brochure is available online that immediately transmits all the principles of the DigitalTown community. For investors there is a PDF with explanation about how the blockchain works. Would you like to invest in DigitalTown development too? Contact us for closer details.