[Video in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ5DWKKO03U ] The Web 2.0 model, which has become mainstream in current online software platforms, has enabled user-driven participation and collaboration. However, it has also facilitated the emergence of central hubs of information which collect massive amounts of user data, with its multiple negative impacts such as privacy issues, monopolies, surveillance or single legislation. These issues have triggered the emergence of a new wave of decentralized technologies, in both P2P systems (e.g. blockchain, ipfs) and federated systems (e.g. Matrix). And yet, building decentralized software is hard. Development frameworks are built thinking in centralized apps, moreover when thinking of collaborative apps. SwellRT (http://swellrt.org) is a development framework for building decentralized real-time collaborative apps, easily and avoiding extra code to the developer. SwellRT provides a server side (storage, sharing, identity, federation) and an API to build apps in JavaScript, Java or Android. You may think of Google Drive Real-Time API or Firebase but decentralized & open source. ------- Lecture given at the Center for Research on Computation and Society: CRCS at Harvard University Monday, September 26, 2016, 11:30am to 1:00pm Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Video of the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqEyPPRPboo

1. SwellRT:
Facilitating decentralized real-time collaboration
Samer Hassan
@samerP2P #Decentralization
Berkman Klein Center at Harvard
Universidad Complutense de Madrid

2. Consuming responsibly

3. Using responsibly

4. Legal Context
City
State
Federation

5. Technology is Political

6. Technical Context
App
Platform
Infrastructure

7. Web 2.0: Platforms

8. Web 2.0: Platforms

9. Web 2.0: Platforms

10. Web 2.0: Platforms

11. How bad is it?

12. Centralization
For-profit
Surveillance
Monopoly
Centralised Control
Top-down
US-centric
Proprietary Software
Single Ownership

13. This was different...

14. Decentralization
Bottom-up
Diversity
Privacy
Anonymity
Decentralised Control

15. Emerging Alternatives

16. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration

17. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration

18. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration

19. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration

20. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration

21. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration

22. Multiple Use Cases
- File Sharing
- Microblogging
- Permanent Storage
- Shared ledger
- Social Networking
- Collaboration…?

23. How do we collaborate?

24. Collaboration App Types
Project
Management
Communication Text / File based
Collaboration
Blend RT
Collaboration

25. We may want to build...

26. We may want to build...

27. We may want to build...

28. Building Decentralized
Software is Hard

29. Development Frameworks
assume centralization

30. What is SwellRT?

31. Development Framework for
Decentralized Real-Time Collaborative Apps

32. Collaboration Technologies
Centralized Decentralized
Monolithic
Low Level API / Library
TogetherJS
WebRTC, YJS
More value for
developers
ShareJS
DerbyJS

33. Similar Technologies
Framework API Framework Framework Framework
Open Source
Decentralized
Rich Text

34. History

35. E-mail
Federated
Open Standard
Free/Open Source
Universal?

36. SwellRT History

37. ✓ Real-time collaboration
✓ Federated
✘ Free/Libre Open Source
✘ API
✓ Real-time collaboration
✓ Federated
✓ Free/Libre Open Source
✘ API
✓ Real-time collaboration
✘ Federated
✘ Free/Libre Open Source
✓ API
✓ Real-time collaboration
✓ Federated
✓ Free/Libre Open Source
✓ API
SwellRT History

38. ✓ Real-time collaboration
✓ Federated
✓ Free/Libre Open Source
✓ API
SwellRT History
Giving back:
Apache Wave adopting SwellRT codebase

39. Federated Database
for Collaborative Objects

40. Participants
have a global ID
on Internet
samer@swellrt.org

41. Collaborative
Objects
Have a global ID
in Internet
myserver.net/s+zpk87MzATiA

42. Collaborative
Objects
=
JSON Documents
with steroids “Patient
#135A”
$2,000

43. Privacy + Collaborative Objects
Object
Access
Control
Rules

44. Privacy + Collaborative Objects
Access
Control
Rules
Object

45. Benefits for Developers
Hiding complexity, avoiding extra code for:
- Data storage
- Data sharing, communications, sync...
- User identity management
- Federation
- New UX patterns like Reactive UI

46. Database / Framework
SwellRT API
App
(Frontend)
SwellRT
(Backend)
● Storage
● Sync
● Identity
● Federation
● Reactive UI

47. Database / Framework
SwellRT API
App
(Frontend)
SwellRT
(Backend)
● Storage
● Sync
● Identity
● Federation
● Reactive UI

48. Federated
Server Server
Server Server

49. Federated
Server Server
Server Server

50. Changes
Real-time change
propagation
Collaborative
Object
Changes Sync

51. Changes
Real-time change
propagation
Collaborative
Object
Changes Sync

52. Database Framework
•Email integration
•Mobile Notifications
•Identity provider
•Multi Platform Reactive API
•Pre-built Components
•Backend Management Tools
•Persistence
•Search engine
•Real-time access control
(concurrency control)

53. ➔ Rich Text Editor + Widgets
➔ Provided as Image
➔ Clients for
More Features

54. An Example

55. A visual way to get
people involved
Explore other projects

57. An example: Teem
Web App: http://teem.works
Android App: http://tiny.cc/teemapp

58. Samer Hassan
Berkman Center at Harvard
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
http://samer.hassan.name
@samerP2P
This presentation is a composition of text and images by Samer Hassan. The text is released as Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International. The images are mostly copyrighted and used under Fair Use. The
image logos belong to their corresponding brands, projects or institutions. Sources of other images: CSA
Tabacalera, Calvin & Hobbes, Big Bang Theory, Brainless Tales, Baran (1964), P2Pvalue, GRASIA UCM,
Wikipedia, Microsoft, Journal of Peer Production, Teemu Arina’s slideshare, and unknown others
Questions?

59. Some links
http://swellrt.org
https://github.com/P2Pvalue/swellrt
@P2Pvalue @Pablojan

60. Thank you
Samer Hassan
@samerP2P
This presentation is a composition of text and images. The text is released as Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International. The images are mostly copyrighted and used under Fair Use. The image
logos belong to their corresponding brands/ projects/ institutions. Sources: Mercado de Economía
Social de Madrid, Dries Buytaert Blog, Baran (1964), P2Pvalue, GRASIA UCM, Wikipedia, Microsoft and
unknown others