Clarifying EconomicEvent and EconomicResource questions for HoloREA

[bhaugen]

Here's an introduction to HoloREA. This project is just getting started, and we have no idea if it has legs (in other words, will the project continue). But a number of questions have arisen about how EconomicEvents affect EconomicResources. We've discussed most of them in various VF issues, but I'll try to pull them all together here.

Here are some of the previous issues that have touched on these questions:

• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/10 Pools of physical resources
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/11 When does a Resource become a new Resource
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/13 identifying a resource
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/23 Defining vf:EconomicResource
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/24 Can you have a zero quantity vf:EconomicResource?
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/39 shares and 'logical stocks' of material resources
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/42 grid resources (water, hot water, gas, electricity, gray water etc.)
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/44 splitting and merging lots
• https://github.com/valueflows/resource/issues/51 timeline based stocks (availability?) for Usage and Services

Resources with different behaviors:

• Stock resources like nails or flour or liquid:
  • Each individual instance of a Resource Classification can be substituted in use for any other of the same classification. In some cases, like liquids, "individual instances" (like "one nail") do not even make sense.
  • Stock resources are usually identified only by Resource Classification and location and quantity, where the quantity means "of that Resource Classification at that location".
  • Currency accounts are stock resources but are identified by an account id.
  • Among stock resources, the physical form will also dictate some behaviors: that is, whether the resource is composed of discrete units like nails, or grains, or powders like flours, or liquids or gases.
    • "grid resources" like municipal electricity and water have some special behaviors which are discussed in #42
• Lot-controlled resources like food and drugs:
  • Lot usually means "produced at the same time in the same conditions", like the same production batch, and is designated by a lot id.
  • The lot id must follow every part of that resource wherever it goes, as long as it has the same Resource Classification. (Unless it is incorporated into some other resource with a different classification, such as several lots of meat and other ingredients being incorporated into sausages, in which case the new resource would be given a different lot id. But the new lot will be connected via systems to the input lots, so the provenance can be followed in case of recalls.)
  • Lot-controlled resources share some behaviors with stock resources, but they are identified by lot id as well as Resource Classification, location, and quantity.
• Uniquely-identified resources, which include resources with unique serial numbers (serialized resources) as well as artworks, designs, documents, etc, where none of these resources are substitutable for any other.

[bhaugen]

This issue covers when does a resource become a new resource fairly well, so I won't repeat it here, but we do need to make some decisions for HoloREA, because it was left as "whatever you need to track", and in HoloREA, we need to nail some decisions down, at least for starters.

Another aspect of creating a new resource or not, which is not discussed in that issue, is the differences between stock, lot-controlled, and unique resources:

• You can add more quantity to the same stock resource if it is the same Resource Classification and location.
  • In NRP and all its forks, we gave people the choice when they were creating new resources of adding to the same stock resource or creating a new one.
• You can also add to a lot-controlled resource with the additional qualification of being produced in the same batch.
• You cannot add more quantity to a uniquely-identified resource.

[elf-pavlik]

I think interesting as interesting addition we could capture, that resources come useful when we have 'asynchronous flows'. Putting aside expiration date on resources, different processes can include flows that affect certain resource at different times. When it comes to flows with action work or service (to some extent use). They need to happen in 'synchronous way'. Currently we tend not to model processes which output work or use but possibly need for that will come first with service (which for example combines work and usage). Those don't have convenience of having resource in-between processes but need to happen in synchronous way, Flow with service will directly come as output of one process and input of other process. I think sometimes people may always expect to have a resource 'in between' processes, but it looks like in VF we see that some flows don't happen around affecting some resource. One can also see resource as certain 'buffer' which one can increment and decrement to have more flexibility in coordinating timing of processes in certain chain. At the same time other processes don't have such convenient 'buffer' and work, services (to some extent use) needs better coordination on timing.

For clarifying economic event, I think introducing (Flow)Intent, (Flow)Commitment and (Flow)Event can help to see what gets used for planning, making agreements and making statements about something observed in the past - https://www.valueflo.ws/introduction/flows.html

[almereyda]

We have moved the ValueFlows organization from GitHub to https://lab.allmende.io/valueflows.

This issue has been closed here, and all further discussion on this issue can be done at

https://lab.allmende.io/valueflows/forum-valueflo-ws/-/issues/123.

If you have not done so, you are very welcome to register at https://lab.allmende.io and join the ValueFlows organization there.