EdgeOS: The Open Source Stack for Network Societies

The popup city and network society space is booming, with thousands of people participating in these events in 2025. Organizers face unique challenges that current tools don't adequately address - from handling applications and approvals to integrated ticketing and community coordination.

Simultaneously, developers eager to build or test products in this growing ecosystem lack a unified platform to understand participant data, event scheduling, and community engagement patterns. Without standardized infrastructure, they must create custom integrations for each community. Plus, developers would be able to create new experiences enabled by this two-way data flow.

We have worked with many great projects such as Propel, ZuPass, Social Layer, Cursive, Space/Time and more, and all have had issues building and integrating for this growing movement. Based on these experiences, Edge City and SimpleFi are seeking funding to collaboratively build EdgeOS, an open-source platform that will significantly reduce development barriers for Web3 communities and network societies.

Please see our EdgeOS repo here.

Current Impact:

• Serving 10,000+ citizens across multiple communities
• $500,000+ in payment volume processed (2024)
• 4,000+ verifiable credentials issued via QuarkID
• Active deployments in Edge City, Aleph, Ciudad de Crecimiento, and Edge Esmeralda

These metrics are growing quickly!

Core Components:

• Identity Management: Self-sovereign identity system with verification
• Resident Portal: Application workflows and approval automation
• Payment Infrastructure: Integrated cryptocurrency and fiat payment rails
• Event Coordination: Complete ticketing solutions for popup villages

Technical Architecture:

• PostgreSQL database with NocoDB interface for accessible management
• Modern API suite enabling custom feature development
• Extensible frontend portal for resident engagement

Example Collaborations That Need EdgeOS:

• ZKEmail: Edge City implemented special discounts for conference speakers using ZKEmail's privacy-preserving technology. The integration required significant custom development that EdgeOS would make available to any community with minimal effort. Demo available here.
• Cursive: This cryptography and design lab works with Edge City to iterate on their tools for digital signatures and data authenticity, using cutting-edge cryptography to improve human connection. While we manually integrated their solutions, EdgeOS would provide standardized connection points for seamless implementation. See their reflection post here.
• RadicalxChange's ∈dges: This community currency experiment was designed to strengthen collaboration and keep value circulating within communities, demonstrating how local currencies can foster trust and resilient economies. A custom integration for each tool and popup village requires significant effort that EdgeOS would eliminate.
• ZuPass: Designed to facilitate secure, privacy-first access, ZuPass is a decentralized identity solution used across Edge City experiments. While a powerful tool, its integration currently requires custom development work for each implementation. EdgeOS would standardize this process, making it accessible to all network societies.

Key Benefits for Developers:

• Build Network Society Apps: Create specialized applications on top of our API without reinventing core infrastructure
• Access Ready Communities: Tap into existing network societies as a distribution channel for your applications
• Unified Integration Points: Connect once to our platform rather than building separate integrations for each community
• Grow With The Ecosystem: As network societies scale, your applications automatically reach larger audiences

As frontier technologies evolve, EdgeOS serves as a practical sandbox for implementing decentralized identity, community currencies, new governance models and more. Funding will accelerate the open-source development of expanded documentation, additional Web3 integrations, enhanced privacy features, and a robust community contribution framework.

EdgeOS represents critical infrastructure, enabling the next generation of network state communities to operate efficiently while focusing on their core missions.