FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a digital asset in the form of a digital, non-fungible token having stored attributes relating to geospatial areas. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system for tokenisation of geospatial areas and natural assets.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Reference to background art herein is not to be construed as an admission that such art constitutes common general knowledge.

[0003] Existing large-scale, geospatially specified common pool resource management strategies are inefficient because they rely on centralised institutions such as government or private corporations to intermediate the regulation and organisation of the management of these common resources, such as/for example global ecosystems (natural resource stocks) and the ecosystem services they provide (natural resource flows).

[0004] The intermediation creates inefficiencies that have led to a situation where stocks of critical global common pool resources are being continuously eroded, compromising their ability to provide the natural resources and ecosystems services that underpin economic activity.

OBJECT

[0005] It is an aim of this disclosure to provide a digital token or system for tokenisation of geospatial areas which overcomes or ameliorates one or more of the disadvantages or problems described above, or which at least provides a use commercial alternative.

[0006] Other preferred objects of the disclosure may become apparent from the following description. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In one form, although it need not be the only or indeed the broadest form, there is provided a digital token having one or more stored attributes relating to a geospatial area that is associated with the digital token, wherein the geospatial area corresponds to a physical location on a planet and each stored attribute is updateable.

[0008] In another form, there is provided a system for tokenisation of geospatial areas, the system comprising: a host server having a database and a processor, the host server being configured to generate one or more geospatial areas, each geospatial area corresponding to a physical location on a planet; a geospatial measuring instrument in communication with the host server configured to measure and communicate data about one or more of the geospatial areas to the host server; and a plurality of digital tokens configured for distribution within an electronic distributed ledger, each digital token having one or more stored attributes relating to at least one of the one or more geospatial areas.

[0009] In another form, there is provided a method for tokenisation of geospatial areas, the method comprising: generating, via a host server, one or more geospatial areas corresponding to physical locations on a planet; generating a digital token having one or more stored attributes relating to at least one of the one or more geospatial areas that is associated with the digital token; and measuring, via a geospatial measuring instrument, data about one or more of the geospatial areas; communicating the measurement data about the one or more geospatial areas to the host server; and updating the stored attributes of the digital token based on the measurement data. [0010] Preferably, the digital token comprises a non-fungible token.

[0011] Preferably, the digital token is configured for distribution with an electronic distributed ledger. Preferably, the digital token is generated by the host server. Preferably, a private key of the digital token is generated and received at a local server. Preferably, the private key of the digital token is stored on the local server. Preferably, the digital token is stored on the host server and is accessible using the private key stored on the local server.

[0012] Preferably, the one or more stored attributes of the digital token are associated with a physical condition or element of the geospatial area. Preferably, the one or more stored attributes of the digital token are associated with the bio-physical health of the geospatial area.

[0013] Preferably, there are a plurality of geospatial areas. Preferably, the planet is Earth. Preferably, the host server generates a digital representation of at least a portion of a planet (e.g. the Earth) and divides a surface of the digital representation in a tessellated grid to generate the geospatial areas, wherein each cell of the grid defines a geospatial area. Preferably, each cell of the grid has a uniform size. In some preferable embodiments, each cell of the grid is 30 metres by 30 metres in size.

[0014] Preferably, the digital token is associated with only one geospatial area. Preferably, the digital token is associated with only one attribute of one geospatial area. Preferably, the digital token is uniquely associated with one geospatial area. However, a geospatial area may be associated with more than one digital token. Preferably, a geospatial area is associated with a plurality of digital tokens, wherein each token is uniquely associated with an attribute of the geospatial area. Preferably, the attribute corresponds to a physical attribute or an ecological attribute of the geospatial area. Preferably, the attribute comprises one or more of biodiversity, pollination, habitat, water quality, soil carbon. Preferably, the attribute is measurable by a geospatial measuring instrument.

[0015] Preferably, the geospatial measuring instrument comprises a satellite.

[0016] Preferably, each attribute is timestamped.

[0017] Preferably, the attribute is updated at a predetermined interval.

[0018] Preferably, the host server is configured to update the digital token in response to receipt of measurement data from the geospatial measuring instrument. Preferably, the host server is operable for communicating over a network with the geospatial measuring instrument and/or the local server.

[0019] Preferably, the host server comprises a centralised server, a distributed ledger, a network of applications that communicate with each other using a consensus service ora blockchain. Preferably, the distributed ledger comprises a public distributed ledger or a private distributed ledger. Preferably, the host server comprises a network of applications that communicate via a consensus service or consensus algorithm. More preferably, the consensus service or consensus algorithm comprises an asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) consensus algorithm

[0020] Preferably, the host server or digital token is configured to execute a set of rules that define an updating protocol for collecting and receiving measurement data from the geospatial measuring instrument.

[0021 ] Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: identifying, by the host server, an update to an attribute of the geospatial area within the electronic distributed ledger; modifying, by the host server, the attribute stored on the digital token in response to the identified updated status of the attribute of the geospatial area; and broadcasting, by the host server, to the electronic distributed ledger, the modified attribute of the digital token.

[0022] Preferably, the digital token includes a digital media file. Preferably, the digital media file comprises the stored attributes associated with the digital token. Preferably, the digital media file comprises a digital artwork. Preferably, the digital media file comprises data, photos, videos, sound recording, digital artwork relating to the area of land associated with the digital token (i.e. the geospatial area).

[0023] Preferably, each geospatial area comprises one or more layers. Preferably, each layer is associated with one or more attributes of the geospatial area.

[0024] Preferably, an identity of the digital token is defined by: a latitudinal and longitudinal coordinate relating to the geospatial area associated with the digital token; an identification number; and a layer number relating to the layer the digital token is located within.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] By way of example only, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein:

[0026] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for tokenisation of a geospatial area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 is a block diagram for a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic of a geospatial area having a number of Earthtiles assigned to a number of layers;

[0029] Figure 3A illustrates a block diagram for an embodiment of an Earthtile; and

[0030] Figure 4 illustrates a satellite image taken by a geospatial measuring instrument in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention can be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform embodiments of the invention. The Detailed Description and associated figures are not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in anyway.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to digital tokens for geospatial areas and a system for distributing rights to the digital tokens via distributed ledger technology which relate to geospatial information associated with a specific geospatial area.

[0033] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a system for tokenisation of geospatial areas where the rights to discrete units of information (attributes of the geospatial area) are cryptographically tokenised (as a type of information object or Virtual Object referred to herein as ‘Earthtiles’) via Distributed Ledger Technology that provides immutable ownership rights to that information or data.

[0034] Referring now to FIG. 1 and 2, a flow chart 100 and system 200 for tokenizing a geospatial area for distribution in a blockchain or distributed ledger network is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. In Step 110, a number of geospatial areas (or map tiles) are generated for a physical location. These geospatial areas 210 on the Earth are, preferably, generated by a host server 240 comprising a processing system 250 and a database 260 by, generally, dividing the surface of the planet into a grid projection of uniform units of area that allow specific locations to be represented. More specifically, the processing system 250 of the host server 240 divides a digital representation of the planet (planet Earth, in this case) into a number of uniformly sized, tessellating (i.e. non-overlapping) map tiles. In a particular embodiment, the Earth is divided into 566 billion distinct 30 metre by 30 metre map tiles/geospatial areas.

[0035] A geospatial area (such as geospatial area 210 in Figures 2 and 3) may then be selected for tokenization. Moving to Step 120, one or more digital tokens are generated by the host server 240 for the selected geospatial area 210 and then assigned to geospatial area 210 at Step 130. These digital tokens facilitate exclusive information rights related to the geospatial area and are distributed as Virtual Objects. These Virtual Objects are the Earthtiles mentioned above and are a virtual asset type known as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) for the geospatial area at a specific time (typically the time that a first assessment of the geospatial area is conducted) where the geospatial area has one or more attributes (such as a physical or biophysical attribute or environmental condition of the geospatial area). The Earthtiles 220, 222 are stored on the host server 240 and are thereby accessed via the Internet using a private key stored on a local server (such as a PC, for example) operated by an owner of the Earthtiles 220, 222. Each geospatial area can be associated with one or more unique Earthtiles but an Earthtile can only be associated with a single geospatial area. In the illustrated embodiment, Earthtiles 220, 222 relate to a first eco datatype and second eco datatype, respectively, associated with the specific geospatial area that the Earthtiles 220, 222 cover. [0036] The Earthtiles 220, 222 (see Figures 2 and 3) are immutable information objects relating to a tessellated area of a Layer 310 (described below). Each Earthtile 220, 222 (which is a tessellation or cell of a Layer plane) represents the attribute of this layer type for a specified area (the geospatial area 210) immediately below it on the Earth’s surface defined by the geospatial area 210 or map tile.

[0037] At Steps 140 and 150, the attribute associated with the Earthtile is dynamically updated via additional measurement data collected and communicated to the host server 240 by a geospatial measuring instrument (for example, satellite 230 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the dynamically updating information informs the rate and type of programmable token flows to and from that Earthtile 220, 222.

[0038] As mentioned above, in addition to the map tiles/geospatial areas 210 and Earthtiles 220, 222, the system 200 includes the host server 240 having processor 250 for executing an algorithm and a database 260 for storing updating information received from the satellite 230. The host server 240 is configured to store, distribute and update the attributes of the Earthtile 220, 222 (along with any other Earthtiles) and transmit any updates to the attributes of the Earthtile 220, 222 to the electronic distributed ledger. As mentioned above, the private key of Earthtile 220, 222 is stored on a local server, preferably in an encrypted cryptographic wallet (such as a mobile wallet, desktop wallet or electronic hardware wallet, for example).

[0039] As shown in Figure 2, the host server 240 communicates with the geospatial measuring instrument in the form of the satellite 230 which is configured to measure the defined attributes or data (such as canopy cover through cameras and image analysis, for example) associated with a location/geospatial area and the time the measurement is taken. Capturing the time of a measurement allows comparisons with previous and future measurements. An example of a measurement of forest changes (canopy cover, etc) taken by satellite 230 can be seen in image 400 in Figure 4.

[0040] Each type of Earthtile layer is preconfigured at the time of minting to measure specific ecosystem services data (i.e. one or more attributes of the geospatial area). Updating measurements are then conducted based on a preconfigured routine or interval. Once the interval between measurements has elapsed or a set of conditions are met, the Earthtile 220 will contact the geospatial measuring instrument (the satellite 230, for example) for information specific to the geospatial area it represents and related to the type of ecosystem services (the attributes) the Earthtile 220 is assigned or associated with. The Earthtile 220 will then store the results within database 260 and have exclusive ownership over this attribute data. These stored attributes and updating measurement data provide value to the Earthtiles 220, 222. In some embodiments, the stored attributes and Earthtiles 220, 222 are stored together. In some other embodiments, the stored attributes and Earthtiles are stored separately whereby the Earthtile accesses its associated stored attributes using a unique identification number.

[0041] The algorithm executed by processor 250 can assess the quality, quantity, accuracy of the information the Earthtile 220 contains and in relationship to all other Earthtiles around it in the same location or related earthtiles within the stack for that geospatial area 210.

[0042] The algorithm is configured to evaluate and analyse variables in relation to all other Earthtiles within the same layer and within other layers.

[0043] Earthtiles can also hold the ownership rights to data, photos, videos, sound recording, digital artwork relating to the area of land (i.e. geospatial area) they represent. The Earthtiles can also contain the rights to large data sets related to the measurements of environmental data related to the land (geospatial area) they represent, for example daily rainfall, temperature, soil moisture, runoff, infiltration, humidity etc.

[0044] As mentioned above, each Earthtile (such as Earthtiles 220, 222) is uniquely associated with attributes of a geospatial area that are dynamically updated with measurement data which are representations of the bio-physical health of the geospatial area 210 associated with the relevant Earthtile. For example, the data may relate to ecological, economic, cultural, and social performances (all of which can be referred to as ‘ecosystem’ performances) at specified geospatial locations/areas and where the integration of programmable token flows and updating ecosystem measurement data can be used to incentivise real world changes to ecological, economic, cultural, and social performances at those specified geospatial locations. It is envisioned that as the health of the ecosystem associated with the Earthtile improves, so too will the perceived value or desirability of that Earthtile thereby incentivising improvement of the health of the ecosystem.

[0045] A “layer” refers to an information layer represented as an abstract thin plane above the Earth which encompasses the entire Earth made up of tessellated tiles (the geospatial areas or map tiles) where the flat plane represents a specific measurement data of the geospatial areas (of the earth’s surface) below it. More specifically, a layer refers to all of the Earthtiles within a horizontal plane that are of a common type of Earthtile. Each tessellated area may have a plurality of layers and thus a corresponding plurality of Earthtiles.

[0046] Each layer receives and collects data from geospatial measuring instruments (such as satellites) about the geospatial area and time they are related to. For example, an Earthtile in a first layer may relate to the geospatial area in the daytime while another Earthtile in a second layer may relate to the geospatial area in the night-time. Each Earthtile has distinct digital rights to measure specific ecosystem services data or other data for that layer within the system. For example, a plurality of distinct layers may receive and collect data related to biodiversity, pollination, habitat, water quality, soil carbon, as an example.

[0047] With reference to the example shown in Figure 3A, each Earthtile 272 includes 3 identifying details within a distributed ledger: 1) the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates 272a relating to the location (i.e. geospatial area) of the Earthtile; 2) a unique identification number 272b; and 3) a layer number 272c relating to the layer the Earthtile 272 is located in. For example, layer 0 may be the land owner layer, layer 2 is the platform layer, layer 3 is the platform resource layer, layer 4 is the first project earthtile layer, layer 5 is the second project tile and layer 6 is the regional governance council earthtile layer. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3A, as Earthtile 272 is a land Earthtile, the layer number 272c will be layer 0. This information is immutable along with the ownership of the Earthtiles due to their storage in a cryptographically secure Distributed Ledger. In this regard, there may be multiple Earthtiles associated with a specific geospatial location where each Earthtile relates to a different attribute of the geospatial location. Collectively, a plurality of Earthtiles associated with a single geospatial area is referred to herein as a “stack”. An example of this can be seen in Figure 3. More specifically, an Earthtile in another layer represents an identical location to the first layer object but may have the right to collect, store and distribute the data related to that Earthtile location for a separate type of rights or measurements associated with that layer.

[0048] As the skilled addressee will appreciate, there may be an infinite number of layers of Earthtiles associated with a single geospatial area. Thus, many Earthtiles may relate to the same location but assigned to different layers using the same scalar protocol which represents the type of Earthtile that is defined by its size.

[0049] In some embodiments, the system includes a second type of Earthtile: an Attribute Earthtile 270. Similar to the Earthtile described above, an Attribute Earthtile 270 represents a type of Earthtile that contains information that is not related or restricted to a specific geospatial location but to a broader region or project area. Attribute Earthtiles can be attached to Earthtiles (such as Earthtile 220, for example) within a project or region for which they are associated. In some embodiments, an Earthtile may limit the number of Attribute Earthtiles that can be attached to it. For example, the limit may be set at 1 or a predetermined set number. Of course, in some embodiments there may be no limit on the number of Attribute Earthtiles that can be attached to an Earthtile.

[0050] In some particular embodiments, Attribute Earthtiles may be in the form of digital artwork (such as digital artwork 350 shown in Figures 2 and 3) related to a region or location. Earthtile owners may receive or purchase an Earthtile that is assigned (randomly or otherwise) an Attribute Earthtile that includes digital artwork which is thereby associated with the Earthtile after it is minted.

[0051] In some additional embodiments, digital artworks can be produced and then assigned a value (e.g. a rarity factor). The digital artworks may be randomly assigned a rarity factor.

[0052] In some embodiments, digital artworks may be only produced in a very limited number (for example, 5). The number of artworks may be used to determine the rarity factor. For example, if a first artwork has 5 copies it may be assigned a higher rarity factor compared to a second artwork that has 100 copies. [0053] Advantageously, users can collect all of the attribute earthtiles for a project or geospatial area and form a collection of Attribute Earthtiles, if they wish.

[0054] Attribute Earthtiles may also be traded between Earthtiles within a common layer. As an example, a rare artwork that was randomly allocated via a random distribution when an Earthtile is minted can be swapped with the artwork located in another Earthtile which may be desirable.

[0055] Attribute earthtiles have rules related to where they can be traded, they may for example be traded within project earthtiles that are wholly over one landowners land. Others may be for one region or country. These rules are created when the attribute earthtile is created and built into their smart contract or business logic in an app network so they cannot be changed after they are first created. It should be appreciated that the app network comprises a network of applications that communicate with each other using a consensus service (such as the Hedera Consensus Service, for example). In use, the app network may include a single server which acts as a single node running a decentralised application. However, such an implementation may have disadvantages. In a preferable implementation, there are multiple servers (i.e. multiple nodes) whereby each server runs a decentralised application. Effectively, there are one or mode servers (i.e. nodes) to submit transactions to the consensus service (e.g. Hedera Consensus Service) and that any node/server can submit transactions to the network and all node/servers are copies of each other and contain the same business logic and rules. This serves to provide more decentralisation than just a single server submitting transactions to the consensus service. In such an embodiment, the app network replaces the role of a smart contract.

[0056] In some embodiments, the system includes a third type of Earthtile: a Land Earthtile 272. For each type of scalar protocol there exists a layer which can be claimed and owned by the legal landowner who owns wholly the land on the earth where those objects or earthtiles exist. In some embodiments, the Land Earthtile 272 is used to collect transaction fees in the form of tokens on the transactions (i.e. trading) which occur in the stack of layers for each unique object that is traded over the location of a land earthtile. In this way land earthtiles act as a unique identifier which collects tokens for any trades of earthtiles which occur over a land earthtile.

[0057] For each type of scalar protocol there may also be a base layer owned by the platform (a Platform Earthtile 274), which may also collect fees related to transactions which occur above it in the stack.

[0058] In some embodiments, an Earthtile may be assigned a badge, level, or intangible award of merit based on the results that an Earthtile has achieved according to rules administered by the host server and algorithm. In some embodiments, badges, levels and awards are not transferable between project earthtiles and are attached to a single Earthtile immutably. These badges, levels, awards or otherwise may increase the desirability of an Earthtile for the purposes of trading between users.

[0059] In much the same way that people collect sports cards, the digital tokens (e.g. earthtiles) can also be collected and/or traded.

[0060] Embodiments of the present disclosure provides improvements to existing systems by harnessing the collaborative and organisational efficiencies of open markets by creating a new type of digital asset (the ‘earthtile’) within a directed autonomous virtuous object system (DAVOS), a new application of distributed ledger technology (an information system) that allows distributed individuals to participate directly in the investment, creation, and trade in geospatially specified common pool resource production and management at any scale. The problem the invention seeks to address is the inefficiencies of current large-scale, geospatially specified common pool resource management methods.

[0061] All Earthtiles function like maps and as such they only contain representations of physical land and their biological ecosystem services. They don’t confer rights to physical land necessarily although in some specific use cases the Earthtiles may be used for this purpose.

[0062] Implementations of the present disclosure and all of the functional operations provided herein can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Implementations of the invention can be realized as one or more computer program products, i.e. , one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.

[0063] The host server, as described herein, may take the form of a centralised server, a blockchain, a network of applications that communicate with each other using a consensus services or a decentralised distributed ledger. In some embodiments, the distributed ledger may be either a public distributed ledger or a private distributed ledger.

[0064] As described above, in some particular embodiments, the host server comprises a network of applications that communicate with each other using a consensus algorithm or consensus service (such as an asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus algorithm or hashgraph, for example). It should be appreciated that such a consensus service provides trust, fairness of ordering of transactions, an audit trail and proof of immutable ledger of data. An advantage of the above implementation is that the data can be hosted in a private network while having the qualities of a public distributed ledger.

[0065] In some further embodiments, the host server may take the form of a cloud server, or a plurality of servers.

[0066] The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them. The term "data processing apparatus" encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers, for example, host server 240. An exemplary data processing apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.

[0067] A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any one of many forms of programming language and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a mark-up language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

[0068] Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, to name just a few. Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

[0069] Within the context of the specification, the terms “map tile” and “geospatial area” may be used interchangeably.

[0070] In this specification, adjectives such as first and second, left and right, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one element or action from another element or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order. Where the context permits, reference to an integer or a component or step (or the like) is not to be interpreted as being limited to only one of that integer, component, or step, but rather could be one or more of that integer, component, or step, etc.

[0071] The above detailed description of various embodiments of the present invention is provided for purposes of description to one of ordinary skill in the related art. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to a single disclosed embodiment. As mentioned above, numerous alternatives and variations to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art of the above teaching. Accordingly, while some alternative embodiments have been discussed specifically, other embodiments will be apparent or relatively easily developed by those of ordinary skill in the art. The invention is intended to embrace all alternatives, modifications, and variations of the present invention that have been discussed herein, and other embodiments that fall within the spirit and scope of the above described invention.

[0072] In this specification, the terms ‘comprises’, ‘comprising’, ‘includes’, ‘including’, or similar terms are intended to mean a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a method, system or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include those elements solely, but may well include other elements not listed.

[0073] Throughout the specification and claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term “substantially” or “about” will be understood to not be limited to the specific value or range qualified by the terms.