Earth Day: celebrating traction and removing friction!

Dear PlanetWatchers,

Today people worldwide celebrate the life and beauty of our Planet and reflect upon the need to protect our ecosystem. PlanetWatchers do this every day, as they know that the time to act is now!

Our project is gaining significant traction. We have lots of inquiries from people from all countries as well as from corporate entities wishing to foster the deployment of air quality sensors and the growth of environmental awareness.

Time to grow faster

Traction means pressure. We need to improve our processes and remove friction. Recently, we sold 50 Type 2 Arianna sensors in three days, so that Ariannas are sold out once again.  In retrospect, we have not been able to keep up with sensor demand and, in particular, we have not been able to supply Type 1, 2 and 3 sensors to US-based PlanetWatchers. Worse, we haven’t been able to onboard PlanetWatchers based in Asia and other regions of the world, due to logistics, customs, compliance and related challenges.

We have now come up with a strategy to remove bottlenecks as much as possible and accelerate our development.

The basic idea is: we focus on what we do best, and build a network of partners to help us deal with challenges that we don’t handle well.

What we do best and will keep doing

We have built a complex IT infrastructure which enables:

–          Sensor registration on the PlanetWatch network,

–          Collection of data streams from thousands of sensors,

–          Air quality data recording on the Algorand blockchain,

–          Advanced data analysis and delivery via mobile and web apps,

–          Delivery of Planet rewards and collectible NFTs to sensor owners.

In addition, we have developed a rigorous sensor testing methodology to decide which sensors we approve for PlanetWatch use based on their specs and performance (ref. Type 1, 2, 3, 4 classification in the White Paper).

Our focus is on improving and further developing all of the above.

What we’ll outsource and decentralize

As a small company, selling hardware worldwide in a centralized manner, shipping, dealing with customs, etc., is very challenging and a process where we add no value. For this reason, we are preparing the ground to enable PlanetWatchers to buy approved sensors directly from the manufacturer or from a local dealer of their choice. This will remove a lot of friction from our onboarding process – you will be able to select your preferred supplier, get faster deliveries and local support, profit from Black Friday discounts, etc. Last but not least, we believe that decentralizing hardware sales will also reduce the carbon footprint of the PlanetWatch onboarding process!

PlanetWatch licenses

Until now, all sensors connected to PlanetWatch were sold by our company. Once you bought the sensor, you had the right to connect it to PlanetWatch straight away. We will move gradually to a new system:

·        PlanetWatchers will typically buy sensors from third-party resellers and manufacturers.

·       To connect sensors to PlanetWatch, they will be first required to purchase an annual license from us.

This new arrangement will enable PlanetWatch to cover infrastructure costs, while you will be totally free to look for the best price for your sensor and the most reliable merchant.

Please note that the above changes will be introduced gradually, over time. Nothing changes overnight!

If you already own a PlanetWatch sensor, don’t worry: you will be granted a free, perpetual license for your sensor.

I believe our new hardware policy is going to be a game changer, speeding up PlanetWatch adoption by making it easier to buy an approved sensor wherever you live. It will also help us focus on our core business.

Keep watching, and Happy Earth Day!