A UK start-up today launches the ‘internet of the future’ which will be majority-owned by the public and powered by our unused devices.
The DADI network is based on the blockchain and has been built by a world-class group of technology experts over the last four years who want to provide a fairer, faster and safer internet.
Media giant Bauer is one of the big names which has already signed up. It is moving products and websites for its 100 brands over to the platform, which is said to be 60 per cent cheaper, more secure and far faster than existing infrastructure.
Aspects of the BT, Virgin Limited Edition, Empire and WhatCar? businesses are also using DADI’s technology.
DADI will also give people the chance to earn from their unused devices by linking them to the network.
“A vast amount of computational power currently goes unused in homes and businesses around the world,” said DADI founder and CEO Joseph Denne said.
“Expensive computers, games consoles, set-top boxes, smart televisions and other devices spend large amounts of their life unused or in standby mode – and that’s the power we’ll harness for this new network.
“In the same way that homeowners can now install solar panels and sell excess electricity back to the National Grid, the public will be able to connect their devices in the home to the DADI network – earning passive income as a contributor and part-owner of a fairer, faster, safer internet.”
A total of 178,000 people have registered interest in moving over to DADI, which stands for the ‘Decentralised Architecture for a Democratic Internet’.
It attracted $30 million from 8,000 crowdfunding backers in January of this year, the biggest early-stage UK funding round of 2018 so far.
It says it wants to wrestle back control from corporate technology giants. Three-quarters of the current market is controlled by just four technology companies: Microsoft (31 per cent), Amazon (26 per cent), IBM (9 per cent) and Google (8 per cent).
DADI says 85 per cent of its revenues will go directly back to the public while just ten per cent will be retained for maintenance costs.
The remaining five per cent will be allocated to the DADI Foundation, a charitable organisation focused on the promotion of democracy and fair internet access for all.
“In countries like the UK and US, we must remember how much easier unrestricted access to the web has made our lives – and how important it is for the internet to be supported by open and fair practices,” DADI product director Paul Regan said.
“We are at risk of sleepwalking into giving irreversible control to large corporations of digital services that should at least be shared by all – and at best be a basic human right.
“That’s why we are committed to making sure the DADI network will always be owned collectively by the public for the benefit of the public.”
DADI’s founding team previously held technical leadership roles at the likes of the BBC, Barclays, Nike, Diesel and Renault.
It spent four years and $2 million of its own money on R&D before the huge crowdfunding round.
Businesses can begin building on the DADI network today while the full public rollout of DADI network contribution will take place over the remainder of 2018.