Today, we’re happy to announce that the OTSIT Group, Asia’s sustainable community builder and Elastos have entered a strategic partnership to deploy Elastos’ open-source Web3 solutions throughout OTSIT’s housing projects across Southeast Asia.

With the only Blockchain dedicated to secure, interoperable, self-sovereign identities and credentials, Elastos will provide the OTSIT Group with W3C compliant decentralized identifier (DID) solutions, decentralized storage and personal credit scoring across their property developments.

Through the partnership OTSIT community residents will be able to automatically create and manage self-sovereign DIDs to log and track activities ranging from education to environmental behaviour, and map them to incentives such as enhanced credit ratings or access to other exclusive services. In all cases, citizens themselves will own and control access to any data and its corresponding use for other services via a mobile super dApp, Essentials.

In addition, Elastos’ DID solutions will be employed to track and verify each community’s environmental impact; the levels and efficiency of recycling, the re-use of resources as well as overall emissions levels which can then be analysed and compared those of other OTSIT communities across the region.

George Attewell, the OTSIT Group’s Founder and CEO explains that Web3 can play a unique and central role in shaping – and, importantly, measuring – projects that are genuinely sustainable.

“This is the essence of what we call ‘ComTech’; the power of ‘community technology’ to build, not only greener, but more self-sustainable lives for those who engage in our projects – from inclusive educational schemes to re-training and circular economics. Web3 provides for the first time the kind of tools to make these community solutions a reality; from incentivising participation to objectively tracking results. In short all three aspects of ESG – environment, social and governance can all be delivered through this radical and empowering approach to housing, technology and community,” he says.

“This is the essence of what we call ‘ComTech’; the power of ‘community technology’ to build, not only greener, but more self-sustainable lives for those who engage in our projects” – George Attewell

Indonesia is the first country in which OTSIT Group’s vision to build 5 million homes and communities throughout Southeast Asia over the next 15-20 years will be established.

“We are literally creating a ‘new suburbia’ for the region’s hardest-working and most productive communities, whose neighbourhoods have – all too often – been unplanned and the result of economic necessity, rather than social or environmental consideration. Such Web3 solutions effectively supercharge our ability to activate and incentivise such communities for the benefit of all.”

“Elastos continues to champion Web3’s adoption around the world through innovative collaborations with partners that truly believe in the power of new technologies to provide opportunities for greater global equity,” says Fakhul Miah, Elastos’ Head of Growth.

“In many ways, we share a similar vision to the OTSIT Group. For five years, Elastos has been quietly building a full suite of open source, decentralized technologies for identity, security, communication, data storage and commerce to help foster the next generation of creative platforms, financial services and business processes that allow true self-sovereignty and lets users forge their own digital destinies. This partnership will be a great demonstration of our shared visions can be implemented in a way that protects, not only people’s identity, but also the planet,” he said.

As the project rolls out, both partners are also committed to extending further benefits of Web3 directly to the communities involved.

“The potential opportunities extend beyond monitoring and incentives. At the heart of Web3 is the idea of participation through structures such as decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) which will enable citizens to play an active role in decisions impacting their communities, while providing 100% transparency for how these decisions are made,” adds Fakhul.

About the OTSIT Group

The OTSIT Group is a comtech specialist, using next generation technology to create sustainable, urban communities across Southeast Asia.  Indonesia is the first country in which the Group’s vision to build 5 million homes and communities throughout the region over the next 15-20 years will be established.

Communities will include schools, smart water treatment facilities, micro-solar community solutions, floating solar solutions, hydrogen energy plants, electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities all powered by solar stations, in addition to permaculture, healthcare and wellbeing services and shopping centres.

OTSIT will create potentially ‘true zero’ carbon standards utilizing latest technologies – including Web3 – as well as an international-class waste management, collection and re-use programme. The aim is to reduce landfills and transform waste into hydrogen and biomass fuels, while OTSIT’s own plastic waste management system will help reduce the levels of plastic currently being discharged into local rivers and oceans; an acute issue in Indonesia and much of the region.