August 18 AMA session with PlanetWatch CEO

In this article you will find the answers that our CEO, Claudio Parrinello, gave in the AMA session on the 18th of August.

Before answering your questions let’s first go through the Road Map.

PlanetWatch Road Map

In this Road Map, not all projects are disclosed. For some activities and items, we might be the first ones in the world to deploy them, so it would not be appropriate to disclose details in advance.

S2 2021 Global air quality network & ecosystem expansion

In the second half of the present year our focus is on scaling, growing fast our global air quality network and our community.

This is important because the value of this project is related to the value of the data – big data – it will generate. To generate big data, we need a global network of sensors. For example, the goal for indoor air quality monitoring is to deploy sensors in a good fraction of worldwide households, hotels, train stations, public transport, post offices. 

To achieve this, one of the tools is B2B partnerships, as corporate partners can be instrumental to grow our network fast. We are talking to many companies, some of them have tens or hundreds of thousands of retail customers, so they can really help us getting sensors everywhere.

We will also focus on onboarding new sensors. As you know there is a global hardware shortage, so one of our priorities is to make sure that whoever wants to join PlanetWatch and get a sensor has a chance to do it, regardless of where they live.

Another priority is to boost token circulation, since at the moment there are a number of countries in the world which cannot directly access and buy tokens. Our strategy is based on several types of actions. First, we are going to leverage centralised exchanges: as you know, the token will be listed on two additional centralised exchanges, one of them serves North American people. 

DEX (Decentralised Exchanges) are coming to Algorand and I personally believe that we are very near to having a fully functional DEX. That would change a lot of things since when DEX become available, people will be able to trade tokens seamlessly. 

We will also issue a version of our PLANETS for the Ethereum blockchain: of course, this will be done in full compliance with the White Paper and with the maximum supply limit of 4.5 billions of PLANETS. A fraction of the PLANETS that we, as a company, hold will be frozen on the Algorand blockchain and an equal amount will be issued as ERC20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

This is useful since on the Ethereum blockchain there is a very large user community and lots of DeFi platforms, therefore it will be easier for people worldwide to get PLANETS.

Please note that this does not imply any change of strategy – our project is based on the Algorand, we continue to leverage the Algorand blockchain to manage data streams and to build a global air quality ledger!

Lots of people asked about staking: on one hand, as soon as a DeFi platform will be launched on Algorand, I am sure that there will be a lot of companies offering things to do with PLANETS. On the other hand, we will have our own staking scheme, but it will be a bit different from what you could guess. We want to call it stake for the Planet initiative: if you own a significant number of PLANETS and you commit to holding them, you will earn some rewards in the form of collectible NFTs and at the same time PlanetWatch will fund planting trees. So, PLANETS staking will deliver cool collectibles to you and concrete benefits to the environment.

S1 2022 Data monetisation

The emphasis next year, will be on data monetisation. As I have said, PlanetWatch data will have both scientific and market value. We are looking into a number of business opportunities for data monetisation: as you know, if you own a sensor that streams data which PlanetWatch manages to monetise, then you will earn additional PLANETS. 

Partnerships and projects where monetisation will happen will be first of all city projects, where the local government wants to get a better understanding of outdoor air quality, detecting pollution hotspots, and taking more effective mitigation measures. We are talking to a number of cities, but it’s too early to give further details.

Also, We have a chance to build the first global dense network of radon monitors.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas which comes essentially from the ground; this gas is quite dangerous for human health, since it can be carcinogenic. So Radon levels, especially in houses, need to be monitored. In addition, some studies suggest a potential correlation between increases in Radon levels and earthquakes: some preliminary studies claim that monitoring Radon fluctuations can help predict earthquakes.

We, as PlanetWatch, can contribute to a better understanding of Radon emissions and effects and we are already talking to Radon sensor manufacturers.

Another very interesting avenue to data monetisation leverages B2B Data Marketplaces. We have been invited to join one of these marketplaces, where companies submit requests for datasets and if you can provide this data, you make a deal.

S2 2022 Launch of additional verticals (e.g water, noise monitoring)

In the second part of 2022, we will be able to launch additional verticals, including for example monitoring the quality of waters, or monitoring water levels to prevent floods. Noise monitoring in cities may also be monitored by PlanetWatch in the future.

Here you can find PlanetWatchers’ questions to Claudio

Hello, how are you going to incentivise collecting air quality in different locations? For example, you could give people extra planets for collecting air quality reports in different GPS points. 

Hello, we will see. When we do something, it is always because there is a scientific and a business case behind it.

When can we expect the new PlanetWatch App?

It will be publicly available hopefully by the end of August. We are currently completing tests.

How often do tier 1 pixels change? 

It makes no sense to do it too often, since our Tier structure is based on very reliable third-party information. Maybe we will make a review next year.

When will the Type 3 and Type 4 sensors be available in the USA?

All in all, I believe both types of sensors will have an available stock in September. Generally speaking, our goal is to be able to offer thousands of sensors per month and we should achieve this goal before the end of the year.

Is it possible to add a saturation tracker to the Explorer to see how far we are from saturation on each sensor Type?

You can already check in the Explorer the number of active sensors. Please, do not get obsessed with saturation. As you know, there will be a mechanism to keep rewards constant for some time, based on the Recycling Bin. Eventually rewards will decrease but at the same time a number of events will take place which I believe will generate additional for PlanetWatchers.

Is Silvio Micali your friend?

Silvio Micali is the creator of the Algorand technology, MIT professor and a great person, but he is not a personal friend of mine. We met in person a couple of times and he is a strong supporter of PlanetWatch.

How did you get in contact with Algorand?

We felt that Algorand was a great technology for our project so we contacted them via official channels and described our project.

Will there be priority in the queue for 2/3 years Type 3 license holders in regards to the 1 year licences? Or will all the Type 3 license holders be eligible for the first batch (up order 500)?

No, multi-year licenses do not get priority treatment.

Regarding the new upcoming Type 4 device, will it depend on the battery or can it be powered by an ac/dc adapter? What will it support regarding communicating with the Planetwatch network ?

It is a bit too early to tell you everything about this device, but I can answer these two questions. It will be powered from the mains and communicate through Wi-Fi, so once it is set up, things should be very stable.

Keep watching our Planet and stay tuned for more announcements coming soon!