REA learning material trove

An (incomplete) consolidation of works relevant to REA accounting, ValueFlows and the various implementations thereof.

• The 10,000ft Overview
• History
• REA: The Theory
• ValueFlows: The Protocol
  • ValueFlows code
• Open Source Implementations
• ValueFlows-compatible apps
• Applying the model
  • Open Value Networks
  • Value Equations
  • Dependant demand
  • Others
• Case studies
  • Circular economy
• Visions of the future
  • Specific topics
  • System designs & technical explorations
  • Warnings & words of caution
• Documentation and guides
  • Documentation for particular REA-based systems
  • Implementation guidelines for developers and communities
• Example data
• Related works
• Communities to connect with

The 10,000ft Overview

• The official ValueFlows site details the protocol & conceptual overview as well as some examples and use-cases.
• What is REA? on the REA Technology website provides a good overview from a business perspective, though some terminology is outdated.
• The P2P Foundation wiki page on REA
• Understanding the ValueFlows model and How the ValueFlows model can change the world (2-part series)
• A recorded ValueFlows information session from the inaugral Scuttlebutt camp (audio, 42min)

History

• Chronology of events in rea-app wiki (most material also linked on this page)
• Mikorizal's 3.5 paths to the future
• Accounting Is Big Data: How Research Becomes Reality - REA Accounting as described by its original designer, William E. McCarthy (video, 31min)

REA: The Theory

• Bill McCarthy's seminal paper that defines REA
  • Addendum from Bob Haugen clarifying additions to the model not covered in the original paper
• McCarthy's other early papers on the REA theoretical model
• Bob Haugen & Bill McCarthy evolve the application of REA to internet supply chains
• Expanding REA to cover ad-hoc networks of external economic entities
• REA as a foundation for business modelling

ValueFlows: The Protocol

• App functional specifications
• Flow traversal algorithm
• Recipes for repeated process flows
• Use of ValueFlows in planning within federated economic networks
• Requirements for agent functionality in VF-compatible apps
• ValueFlows project wiki
• April 2019 deep dive on ValueFlows protocol (video, 2hrs)

ValueFlows code

• ValueFlows RDF grammar
• ValueFlows GraphQL reference spec (includes visual schema browser)

Open Source Implementations

These are public domain systems which implement the ValueFlows protocol.

• Django (Sensorica NRP)
  • See also these forks: OCP, FreedomCoop, LearnDeep
• Holochain (hREA)
  • Module breakdown
  • Prototype demo (video)
• Scuttlebutt (economic-sentences-graphql)
• Solid (SolidBase)

ValueFlows-compatible apps

• List in the vf-apps readme
• https://www.workday.com/
• http://www.fifthseasoncoop.com/
• Quick Response Engine, the original prototype built by @bhaugen at Bosch. Featured realtime material requirements planning and immediate interactive trouble-shooting of problems.

https://openfoodnetwork.org/ also deserves an honourable mention, as it is an REA-like system.

Applying the model

These are things that REA accounting can be applied in order to achieve. In most cases there are real case studies to support these theories; others are as yet untested.

Open Value Networks

Open networks of contributors co-creating value, pioneered by Sensorica.

• Fantastic definition of OVNs on the ValueNetwork wiki
• Open Value Networks: A Third Coasian Alternative to Firms and Markets (slides)

Value Equations

One possible model for determining exchange rates and value equivalence in REA systems, designed by @fosterlynn for Sensorica NRP.

• NRP value equation concepts and tutorial
• NRP round trip for value creation and reward
• Deep dive into the value equation algorithm

Dependant demand

A technique for balancing supply & demand to avoid overproduction.

• How the signals used by capitalist supply chains could serve a mutual coordination economy (article)
• Dependent Demand - a Business Pattern for Balancing Supply and Demand (paper)

Others

• Automatic always up-to-date accounting
• Ethics equations (video, 45min)

Case studies

• Local economic development case studies
  • more on Mikorizal site
• Sensorica: the world's first Open Value Network
  • on what it means (video, 18min)
  • on how it works (video, 19min)

Circular economy

• Sensorica proposal to develop a recycling economy in Montreal
• Various initiatives of the Reflow Project

Visions of the future

• P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival (report)
• Value in the Commons Economy: Developments in Open and Contributory Value Accounting (report)
• Accounting for a New Economy (article)
• Accounting for good: Ending money and creating resilient communities (slides & notes)

Specific topics

• The uneasy transition from supply chains to ecosystems: the value creation / value capture dilemma (paper)

System designs & technical explorations

• A minimal bottom-up P2P economic system (document)
• ValueFlows as an economic sentence structure, and possible UI/UX to fit
• Sensorica's OVN 3.0 proposal and technical designs

Warnings & words of caution

• ValueFlows, Responsible Technology & Indigenous Wisdom
• Open Value Networks: a Panopticon for Makers

Documentation and guides

Documentation for particular REA-based systems

• Sensorica NRP training slides:
  • start with the overview
  • and then the one about configuration
  • and then follow your nose from there.
• Sensorica NRP wiki

Implementation guidelines for developers and communities

• Efforts to create ValueFlows app specifications- for example see #3 & #4
• Holochain REA community of practise

Example data

Some REA-based systems feature publicly available datasets which can be used on other platforms, especially at the Recipe and Knowledge layers.

• Sensorica:
  • Types of resources traded in Sensorica's contributory economy
  • A recipe for building a wind turbine
    • A plan generated from that recipe
  • A budgeting process
  • ...and many more!

Related works

These projects have no official affiliation with REA accounting or the ValueFlows protocol, but have been explored in the context of REA and could provide mutually beneficial features.

• Conversations for Action- a structured grammar for forming agreements (possible revisions)
• Compositional smart contracts: creating composable legal frameworks
  • General overview from Microsoft (paper)
  • Compositional contract specification for REA (paper)
  • Structured REA contracts (paper)
• The MetaIntegral impact assessment framework are actively exploring ways to derive their qualitative metrics from quantitative REA data
• Rapid Sensemaking Framework has a lot of commonalities and some overlap with ValueFlows, particularly Processes and Recipes.
• Modular Organizing Terminology intends to facilitate useful communication, coordination and collaboration in diverse social contexts without requiring potentially noisy complexity or specificity.
• Kinpesa: a system for building reciprocity games outlines a framework for an abundance economy based on gifting, which focuses on de-leveraging debt and could be built on top of REA data
• A great list of value accounting initiatives
• Another list of economic experiments on the Mikorizal site

Communities to connect with

• Official ValueFlows chat group
• Open App Ecosystem Loomio group (broader discussion of projects involved with the creation of independent economic networks)
• The #valueflows channel on Scuttlebutt
• The hREA project section on the Holochain forum