Enabling Universal Basic Services using the selfdriven Network Interfaces

1. Introduction

Universal Basic Services (UBS) — covering foundational services such as shelter, energy, food, water, power, connectivity and spaces — are increasingly seen as a pillar for resilient, equitable communities.

According to the selfdriven Institute, UBS includes:

“Spaces; Buildings (Housing, Shelter), Energy; Organic Food, Water, In-Organic Power (Electricity), Connectivity (Internet).”

Meanwhile, the selfdriven Network offers a suite of Interfaces — built for self-driven communities and organisations — including Human, Social, SSI, AI, Entity, Attachment, On-Chain and Infra.

This paper explores the idea that these Interfaces provide an architectural and operational substrate through which UBS can be more effectively organised, governed, delivered and scaled in community contexts.

2. Problem Statement

Many regions and communities face systemic barriers in delivering UBS effectively:

Fragmentation — Services like housing, water, and energy are managed in silos.
Governance complexity — Coordination among multiple actors (governments, NGOs, private providers) is difficult.
Lack of identity/trust infrastructure — Efficient verification of eligibility and service access is hard without decentralised identity.
Data silos & vendor lock-in — Information about service use and asset management is trapped in proprietary systems.
Scalability & resilience — Service infrastructure often lacks adaptability to growth, disruption, or local self-management.

These issues limit the scalability, accountability, and equity of UBS initiatives.

3. Architecture of Selfdriven Network Interfaces

The selfdriven.network provides a modular interface stack for communities and organisations:

Interface	Role
Human & Social	Facilitate participation, coordination, and local governance.
SSI	Self-Sovereign Identity for people, organisations, and assets.
AI	Analytics, prediction, and automation for smarter service delivery.
Entity & Attachment	Manage entities (people, orgs, assets) and their relationships.
On-Chain	Immutable trust layer using blockchain for auditability.
Infra	Compute, storage, and network infrastructure to scale.

Together, these form the “control plane” for identity, trust, and coordination of UBS delivery.

4. Mapping Interfaces to UBS Domains

4.1 Spaces / Buildings (Housing, Shelter)

SSI — Issue verifiable credentials for residents, building assets, and tenancy.
Entity & Attachment — Manage links between occupant, property, and organisation.
On-Chain — Anchor ownership, leases, and maintenance agreements.
Human & Social — Manage neighbour networks, shared resources, requests.
Infra — Host digital twins, IoT sensors.
AI — Predictive maintenance, energy optimisation, wellbeing insights.

Result: transparent housing management and empowered residents.

4.2 Energy & Power (Electricity)

Entity & Attachment — Register and manage community energy assets.
On-Chain — Tokenised energy credits and P2P energy trading.
SSI — Credentials for households, providers, and inspectors.
AI — Demand forecasting and optimisation.
Human & Social — Enable energy co-ops, dashboards, engagement.
Infra — IoT and edge compute for micro-grids.

Result: decentralised, efficient, and resilient community energy systems.

4.3 Food (Organic)

Entity & Attachment — Track farms, gardens, and supply chains.
On-Chain — Provenance and tokenised incentives (e.g. “food credits”).
SSI — Verifiable credentials for farmers, consumers, and certifiers.
AI — Forecasting, logistics optimisation.
Human & Social — Community food networks, garden coordination.
Infra — Data and marketplace infrastructure.

Result: transparent and resilient community food ecosystems.

4.4 Water

Entity & Attachment — Manage assets (wells, pumps, treatment plants).
On-Chain — Water-usage credits and quality audits.
SSI — Credentials for inspectors, households, and boards.
AI — Leak detection and usage forecasting.
Human & Social — Alerts, sharing, community coordination.
Infra — IoT sensor networks and analytics back-end.

Result: transparent, efficient, and accountable water governance.

4.5 Connectivity (Internet)

Infra — Mesh networks, physical infrastructure, bandwidth sharing.
Entity & Attachment — Manage nodes, providers, and agreements.
On-Chain — Token-based access, service validation.
SSI — Identity for users and devices.
Human & Social — Community internet hubs, education and content sharing.
AI — Optimise network load and usage patterns.

Result: community-owned, inclusive connectivity.

5. Use-Case Scenarios

A. Community Housing Co-Op

Residents receive SSI credentials for tenancy.
Properties registered as entities with on-chain agreements.
Maintenance and community communication via Human & Social Interface.
AI monitors usage and maintenance trends.

Outcome: Transparent housing, reduced admin, and community self-management.

Solar arrays, batteries, and households are entities with DIDs.
On-chain tokenisation of energy credits for local trading.
AI forecasts demand; Human & Social coordinates co-op governance.

Outcome: Local energy resilience and shared economic benefit.

C. Community Connectivity Network

Mesh nodes registered as entities with attached service logs.
Token-based access via On-Chain Interface.
AI optimises load; Human & Social manages community volunteers.

Outcome: Affordable, transparent, community-controlled connectivity.

6. Challenges & Considerations

Governance Models: Define fair, community-led oversight for all interfaces.
Privacy & Security: Apply minimal-disclosure SSI and strong cryptographic controls.
Interoperability: Integrate with existing utilities, regulators, and data systems.
Scalability: Use hybrid on-/off-chain models for cost-efficient growth.
Digital Divide: Design accessible, low-tech user experiences.
Tokenomics: Prevent speculation or inequity in incentive design.
Regulatory Compliance: Maintain auditability and adherence to legal frameworks.
Cultural Adoption: Foster engagement, stewardship, and shared ownership.

7. Conclusion

The Selfdriven Network Interfaces provide a practical and scalable foundation for implementing Universal Basic Services in communities.
By combining SSI-based identity, decentralised trust, AI-driven insight, and participatory social coordination, they transform UBS from a top-down service model into a self-organising, transparent, and resilient ecosystem.

The alignment between the Institute’s UBS focus and the Network’s modular interfaces offers a pathway to operationalise equitable access to housing, energy, food, water, and connectivity — anchored in community agency and digital trust.

Future work includes pilot implementations, governance frameworks, and open-source reference models connecting UBS and the selfdriven Network for real-world deployment.