betoobe: a digital ecosystem based on collective intelligence
Brussels, May 2019.
Lunch-time, in a restaurant close to my client’s office. Jean-Paul is explaining the idea he has been nurturing for months: betoobe, “The Road to success for Independent Professionals”. It’s an idea that has come a long way, based on his observations of how companies offer employees the means to flourish and grow.
Dream
What if we built an organization that would be the organization of independent professionals that would allow them to grow both in their field of expertise, and as administrator of their (small) company?
What if this organization was inspired by the ecosystems as observed in Nature, with an assembly of communities of diverse expertise that would help each other, as in symbiosis, while having their own specificity?
What if we built an organized digital ecosystem?
Reality
Betoobe was launched.
From an acquaintance that gives her opinion sipping a strong coffee, I became a kingpin in the start of the project.
In addition to the entrepreneurial aspect, what attracts me above all is the application of collective intelligence to serve an organized digital ecosystem.
Ambition
How to build a digital ecosystem, based on values such as empathy, caring, sharing? How to ensure its sustainability? And above all, how to generate revenue for independent professionals who join us?
How can this collective intelligence emerge through communities that interact with other communities to meet specific needs and generate new collaborations?
How to apply the principle of the holon, well known in collective intelligence: the holon is both a whole and a part.
Holon
Betoobe would be a holon: the home of independent professionals with different areas of expertise, and grouped into communities, which are themselves holons interacting with each other.
And betoobe itself is part of a bigger holon, and would interact with other ecosystems and communities: businesses, institutions, the world of education, NGOs. And from these interactions would come opportunities for betoobe members to access value-added missions.
The notion of “holon-home” for self-employed professionals is extremely important. Indeed, we often feel a little isolated, in the oven and mill between various activities. The community aspect and the group effect give us a place where we can feel safe, with the help that can come from different parts of the digital ecosystem, with a diversity of profiles driven by the same desire to learn, to develop, to acquire expertise, knowledge and the necessary tools for a good management of our business.
Why betoobe
That’s what motivated me to join the project: the launch of a unique digital ecosystem, based on collaboration and collective intelligence in the way it works, innovative in its approach, and dedicated to a category of independent workers that will become prevalent in organizations in the coming years.
Note: the image represents birds murmurations, a perfect example of Collective Intelligence in Nature.
As they fly, the birds in a murmuration seem to be connected together. They twist and turn and change direction at a moment’s notice. How do hundreds or even thousands of birds coordinate such complicated movement while in flight? Each bird in a murmuration is connected to every other birds. No leadership designed, and still it works. Understanding murmurations will help you understanding collective intelligence if you feel curious about the topic.
betoobe: the road to growth, recognition and satisfaction for Independent Professionals
