Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency Interactions

The Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency has two main roles: to facilitate the formulation, implementation, and review of community bylaws, and to provide the IT infrastructure that the community needs to operate. In this context, IT infrastructure includes server farms and computers.

The agency is part of the Public Administration Bureau. Other agencies in the bureau are Communication and Public Relations. The three agencies play a crucial role in managing the dissemination of information and providing the infrastructure needed to do so.

Formulation of community bylaws

Bylaws are an essential part of the community’s existence. They determine the character of the community. Bylaws help NewVistas communities to live as per the pattern while making room for unique local considerations so that while each community is unique, they are essentially similar in how they operate. Bylaws also spell out how participants relate with each other, their responsibilities, and those of the community agencies. Additionally, they encourage participation in community affairs.

The process of formulating bylaws is designed to be consultative so that all who are expected to follow them have a sense of ownership. The bylaws are initially formulated once the community grows from one limited partner to a group. As additional groups, then branches, villages, and districts are formed, the bylaws are reviewed to ensure they are current and have the support of a majority of participants.

The first step in formulating bylaws is an initial assessment of the community’s needs, and identifying how these needs can be addressed through bylaws. The community also considers the pattern, aiming to implement it through bylaws. The process is facilitated by community public service, with participants playing an active role.

Branch presidents (captains), who interface with the Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency, research and compile bylaws with constant reference to the NewVistas operating system, so that they are aligned. The agency also aims to involve participants in the process through regular invitations to comment on proposed bylaws, to ensure all views are considered.

Once the bylaws have been compiled, they are taken through a legal review. The purpose is to ensure they are all within the law, to avoid legal challenges when they become operationalized. The agency uses the Legal Agency’s automated system for much of the review. It also hires contractors who are lawyers to review the bylaws. In the early stages of the community’s existence, this is the only means of review.

The bylaws need to be ratified by all limited partners before they become effective. The ratification process is automated and involves voting yes or no to each bylaw, rather than the whole body of bylaws. This ensures that every limited partner is properly acquainted with each item before they approve or reject it. Each bylaw needs to garner the support of at least 60% of all limited partners.

If a bylaw is rejected, the formulation process starts again, with those rejecting being allowed to state what they would like the bylaw to look like. The legal review and ratification process is then repeated.

Ratified bylaws are implemented by the agencies that are affected by these rules. For instance, rules that require a limited partner to invest a minimum of 20,000 are implemented by the Capital Bank, while the Communication Agency implements rules that govern how information is accessed.

From time to time, environmental, social, and legal changes may necessitate the community to review bylaws to update and align them. For instance, in 2023, Florida passed a law that restricted what children are taught about gender identity, sexual orientation, and race. Community bylaws on education for communities in Florida would need to be reviewed to see if they align with the new law and be amended if needed. Additionally, the Life Planning Agency would further work with teachers and principals to ensure the curriculum is consistent with the law.

In the initial stages of a community’s formation, many of the bylaws that later shape a complete community are not applicable. Therefore, they are formulated as the community grows. Once the community is fully constituted, all bylaws are aligned with the operating system and the law, and where necessary, additional ones are formulated.

Server farms and computer hardware

Community agencies are highly automated. They rely on advanced cloud computing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence to serve participants. This requires the presence of a powerful foundation to ensure high availability of data, data security, and scalability as needs demand. A server farm is a crucial means of achieving these aims.

A server farm is a facility that consists of many interconnected servers and related equipment. It supports computing and data storage. Server farms are instrumental in providing redundancy – duplication of components, so that even if one fails, several others can do the same task. This tolerance to failure means there is always a high availability of data services.

Besides these advantages, it is safer for data, from both physical and cyber perspectives, to operate server farms. They are easier to maintain and result in greater economies of scale than when servers are grouped separately, serving specific needs.

In the community, all tools of economic production including capital and equipment are controlled by community agencies. In the case of the Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency, owning computers that participants lease has two main advantages. First, it enables participants to access the latest computers that are otherwise very expensive, thereby optimizing their businesses’ performance. The upfront costs of acquiring an asset are therefore avoided. Secondly, it provides the agency with income: the cost of leasing an asset is low, but cumulatively, more than buying it.

The Capital bank receives investment from limited partners and in turn invests it in community agencies, such as the Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency. The agency uses this capital for operations, including down payments for the loans it takes to acquire assets. The loans are obtained from the Capital Bank, which provides banking services to agencies in the second column. To repay the loans, the agency charges for its services, including using the server farm and leasing fees for computers.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is developing at an ever-faster pace, leading to revolutionary changes in all sectors of human life. Alongside other related technologies such as quantum computing, we can make ground-breaking advances in medicine, transport, engineering, and general data analysis. For instance, AI has provided an unmatched ability in medical diagnosis and drug development. It is also instrumental in developing driverless cars, where, using machine deep learning, it is increasingly feasible to have automated transport that is potentially safer than human-controlled transport.

The community will be highly reliant on these technologies due to its focus on automation and providing the best quality of life to participants. The technologies rely on advanced chips and servers to perform at their potential. Research and development are also essential in fueling the advancement of AI and the hardware that supports it.

The Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency will play an integral role in this. The agency will support and facilitate research and development into AI, as well as its application in all facets of human life. The agency will also encourage the development of the required hardware, especially processing chips and their deployment. Ultimately, the agency is keen to have the community as an industry leader in the sector, while also playing an important role in regulating AI to suppress its negative potential.

Illustrations

The Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency interact with participants in two major areas bylaws, and the provision of IT infrastructure. The agency, after helping formulate and implement bylaws, helps participants follow these rules. The agency monitors and reports on compliance to the bylaws, and carries out regular training, especially in instances where it establishes that breaches are due to a knowledge gap.

All participants and community agencies cannot function without the IT infrastructure that the agency provides. The agency charges for the services it offers and ensures access for all. Here, we illustrate some instances of interaction between participants and the agency.

Illustration 1: interaction with IT infrastructure

Kate, a limited partner, runs a market analysis business. She helps her clients develop sound marketing strategies by gathering, analyzing, and interpreting marketing data. She interacts with various systems to collect the information, so that she can identify consumer behavior, competitors’ activities, and outcomes and sales. In addition, her clients entrust her with forecasting the future so that they can plan accordingly.

When she became a limited partner, the Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency leased her a laptop computer for her work. The computer was one of the latest models, which Kate favored because it had the necessary capacity to crunch numbers that she needed to make her recommendations and write reports. She was responsible for the machine, maintaining it in good working condition, and updating it as directed by the agency and various software developers. The agency hires contractors to come and make more thorough maintenance on the machine, and establish how well it is serving her.

In hiring the laptop, Kate commits to comply with all the terms of the lease agreement with the agency. She is also to conform with all information and data protection laws, which the agency specifically draws her attention to. There are also bylaws about information access and handling, which are enforced by the Communication Agency.

Kate also commits to pay the lease fee, which is due weekly. When the agency sends contractors for periodic thorough maintenance and repairs, she foots the associated costs. However, when the machine has a problem that is not caused by Kate, the agency pays the contractors it sends to assist her.

For her work, she deals with enormous amounts of information. She liaises with various agencies to provide her with the data she needs, as well as her clients so that she can effectively serve them. This data is processed through various tools that are facilitated by the servers that the Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency operate.  

By leasing a computer, as well as communication gadgets from the Communication Agency, Kate automatically signs up for server services. Part of the lease fees she pays for her different gadgets is for this service.

She can also sign up for more services offered by the agency through its servers, such as cloud storage. The agency in turn procures cloud storage services from established providers, such as Microsoft Azure or Adobe Cloud. In turn, the agency can negotiate lower prices due to the volume of business it takes to the cloud services provider, than Kate would pay if she directly engaged with the provider.

Illustration 2: interaction with bylaws

Bernard is in the process of joining a NewVistas community near Portland Oregon. His profession is farming, a career he intends to pursue after joining the community. He has been consulting for farmers in the agency, but he now plans to set up his own business, farming mainly in potatoes and other crops.

Part of the process of joining involves undergoing rigorous bylaws training, which is offered by the Bylaws and IT Infrastructure Agency through its automated system. The system has short courses and tests, which help Bernard and the agency to gauge his progress. His admission is subject to satisfactorily completing the bylaws training. This is deemed so important because the bylaws will govern all aspects of his stay, and breaching them could have serious consequences for his relationship with the community.

The particular community that Bernard is joining does not prohibit smoking but strongly discourages it. Bylaws regarding the practice specify that smoking in public spaces, including streets and restaurants is prohibited. Additionally, the bylaws impose additional taxes on cigarettes and cigars, making them very expensive to further discourage smoking. Limited partners who run businesses as behavioral and rehabilitation science specialists, through the Health and Nutrition Agency’s facilitation, provide rehabilitation services that smokers are encouraged to take to kick the habit.

Failure to observe the bylaws banning public smoking attracts a fine that is directly charged to Bernard’s bank account. The bylaws are implemented with help from automated systems, which can tell not only when someone is smoking, but additionally run urinalysis and other tests to determine whether Bernard has smoked, how long ago this was, and how many sticks he might have smoked.

Another bylaw details how the community, to ensure that participants only access quality food, controls how the food is produced and processed. Bernard, as a producer of potatoes, has a few regulations developed from bylaws that determine how he will grow the crop. He is supposed to use fertilizer from a list issued by the community. Responsible agencies hire inspectors who visit the farm from time to time to ensure that he is following the regulations.

In one instance, a newly developed fertilizer is available, but since it is not on the list of fertilizers that the community has approved through its bylaws, Bernard alerts the Cropland and Pastures Agency, which implements and monitors bylaws that relate to farming. The agency, after conducting extensive checks through contracted experts approves the fertilizer.

Bernard had indicated at the time of his joining that if the opportunity arose, he would like to serve in the community public service. After participating for a few years, a new position arises, when the captain in his group, representing single men, is nearing the end of his term. Bernard applies, alongside others, to replace him. After the normal selection process, where he is selected from a list by one of the captains in the branch presidency, the bylaws