What can we learn from triremes, the naval technology that empowered Athenian democracy in the 5th century BCE; and apply it to the 21st century, so we can deliver a more equitable digital economy

1. THE TRIREME PARADIGM:
what can ancient Athens
teach us about
democratizing the digital
economy
A talk by
Dr George Zarkadakis

4. Number of Employees
Tesla: 48,016
Everyone else combined:
2,554,543
“Productivity” Ratio ?
1 Tesla employee vs 53 of others

5. (Why not “insanity”) From tangible to intangible assets: knowledge, data, algorithms

6. Digital Capitalism: more data & AI, less jobs

8. Winner and Losers: historically, the rich have gotten a lot richer…

10. $
N of participants
Value to owners
Participant
acquisition cost
Web 2.0 Platform
Platform Capitalism 2.0: a value extraction flywheel

13. Trireme Paradigm Principles
Near-zero cost to entry
Delivery of a significant social good
Promotion of equality
Promotion of dignity
Extreme communications
Incentives for investors
©2019 by George Zarkadakis
Decoding triremes: technology for democracy

14. From Web 2.0 to Web 3.0: returning power to the people!

15. Composable
Systems & Apps
People network:
business ecosystem
Microservices
& Distributed Apps
Talent and team collaboration platforms/ marketplaces
Data Robots, Sensors (IoT)Computing AI Engines, APIsBlockchains &
Sidechains
MICROSERVICESOPENECOSYSTEM
Web 3.0 ecosystem. A people network of interconnected cooperatives and microbusinesses collaborate, create and share
economic value by leveraging a stack of distributed and decentralized technologies. ©2019 by George Zarkadakis
Hardware; Computing
Decentralised Operating System (running on VMs)Computer Network
the Internet of Value

16. Trireme Paradigm Principle Decentralized Platform Cooperatives (DPC)
Near-zero cost to entry Participants (including users, developers, marketers, etc.) can become nodes in the
people network without paying an upfront fee.
Delivery of a significant social good A DPC can deliver numerous significant social goods including transport, education,
cyberdefence, banking, insurance, as well as governance of public utilities.
Promotion of equality Every participant in the people network has equal access to the platform. The
governance of the platform is democratic.
Promotion of dignity Every participant can be a contributor regardless their income/
race/gender/location (anonymity). Rewards are proportionate to contributions.
Extreme communications Participants are nodes in a cryptonetwork running on a DLT protocol; in addition,
the DPC may innovate beyond existing electronic means of communications
Incentives for investors DPC offer superior economic incentives to participants and thus lower the risk of
investments and upfront costs (by attracting more users/ contributors). Financial
returns remain high for investors, who are are rewarded by popular recognition for
their contribution towards the social and economic advancement of citizens (social
capital and trust).
Applying the Trireme Paradigm Principles to test Decentralized Platform Cooperatives.
©2019 by George Zarkadakis

17. $
N of participants
Value to owners
Participant
acquisition cost
Web 2.0 Platform
N of participants
$
Value to owners
Value of tokens (owned
by participants)
Web 3.0 Platform
Web 2.0 platforms vs Web 3.0 platforms (e.g. Decentralized Digital Cooperatives)
©2019 by George Zarkadakis

18. PreCovid19 World The “Covid19 Effect” PostCovid19 World
Business purpose:
Maximize ROI and shareholder
value
Social Capital at work,
volunteerism
Broader purpose to include
positive social, environmental
impact – broaden ownership of
derived value from data
Business governance:
enlightened CEO “dictatorships”
Government bailouts &
bigger government
Governance is more inclusive
and participatory
Digital Innovation:
Siloed data sets
Privacy vs. utility dilemma
Citizen surveillance
& need for data sharing
Data Property Rights,
Data Trusts
Work automation:
reduce cost, improve
productivity
Massive unemployment Reinvent AI + human economic
and social symbiosis
Capitalism 2.0
• Legacy Business Models
• Centralized networks
• Globalization
Capitalism 3.0
• Digital Business Models
• Decentralized networks
• Anti-globalization
4th
Industrial Revolution

19. Twitter:
@zarkadakis
MIT Press, 2020