This post uses terminology from the article, Strategy as Ecology by Iansiti and Levien.
Welcomer, is a KeyStone technology for platforms. The platforms build on top of any set of datastores and the applications that created them.
Keystones can increase ecosystem productivity by simplifying the complex task of connecting network participants to one another or by making the creation of new products by third parties more efficient. They can enhance ecosystem robustness by consistently incorporating technological innovations and by providing a reliable point of reference that helps participants respond to new and uncertain conditions. And they can encourage ecosystem niche creation by offering innovative technologies to a variety of third-party organizations. The keystone’s importance to ecosystem health is such that, in many cases, its removal will lead to the catastrophic collapse of the entire system. (from strategy as ecology)
Welcomer takes Open Source Software (including our own) and creates Permanent Internet Identities. An Internet Identity is the history of all relevant transactions made about an entity. The entity can be a person, an organisation, a house, a car, a hospital, a computer application, an industry. The purpose may be applying for a loan, buying a car, getting a disease treated. The transactions remain with the originating application which can remain the same. Welcomer adds a copy of data elements that the owner of the data agrees to share and the owner continues to own. Welcomer connects the same data elements across the different databases.
One important Open Source Software in Welcomer is IPFS.io that creates the "permanent web". Another is Gluu for a person to connect to databases. Welcomer will share income with all the Open Source Software Components used to construct Welcomer.
Welcomer and its other Open Source Components are a Keystone technology. Because the software is Open Source it is difficult for Welcomer to exhibit rent seeking behaviour. Other organisations can immediately take over the role of provider of Permanent Internet Identities. Other organisations will provide Permanent Internet Identities in competition with Welcomer. Welcomer will seek ways to cooperate and link with other Permanent Internet Identity systems.
There are many platforms that can use Permanent Internet Identities. Governments could create a Health Platform to connect the health data about a person. Others are a Superannuation Platform, a Taxation Platform, a Renewable Energy Platform, an Education Platform, a Smart Cities Platform, a Child Support Platform, an Insurance Platform, a Credit Platform, a MediSave Platform, a Water Rewards Platform, etc.... In fact any area where government is an operator, coordinator or regulator.
Government, private industry, not for profits or cooperatives can all operate platforms. The data remains in the ownership of those who collect and make the data available. There can be many platforms for the same function. All platforms can all link together via the Keystone Welcomer technology.
The approach fosters diversity and with it continuous evolutionary improvements in IT systems. The Platforms do the same for industries the IT systems serve.
The above gives the "big picture". The development path is through small steps using Minimum Viable Products. Platform owners can supply development funds to independent application developers. They build applications for use by the platform owners. The ownership and control of the applications remain with application developers. This means they have an incentive to develop and improve their applications.
Funding Keystone Technologies
Keystone technologies are another way of implementing standards. Instead of standards there is an open source code base that is the standard. Cooperative ownership increases the chances of adoption of keystone standards. This precludes the regular way of monetizing software through ownership.
A way to monetize open source software is to sell deployments of the software. Deployments come with support and reputation. With Welcomer it is possible to prove that a deployment is genuine. This protects reputation and value. Payments can be licenses or, as in the case of Welcomer, through a share in application income.
Identic is a deployment of the Welcomer idea for personal identities. Identic, along with other open source software used in deployment shares in the income from applications. Unek.me, Verifier proof of income, are applications that use Identic. They pay group owned Identic to maintain and develop the cooperative standards.