Data calculation

The SAGA network, a decentralized computing framework, is strategically crafted to seamlessly integrate within a technological ecosystem that is currently governed by markedly distinct organizational principles. Today's global computing ecosystem and market are predominantly oligopolistic and vertically integrated, dominated by major 'cloud' infrastructure behemoths such as Amazon WS, Google Compute Engine, MS Azure, alongside software-as-a-service giants like IBM, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, among others. These providers have established robust computing platforms, offering tightly integrated ecosystems encompassing paid data storage, data processing, and machine learning and AI algorithms. Cloud computing infrastructure users often engage multiple providers, blending these services with their in-house infrastructures to create multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud setups, prompting providers to devise solutions catering to such configurations. However, in designing and operating efficient computing workflows, cloud computing providers are compelled to rely on their proprietary solutions and components, which frequently mirror those offered by their competitors.

The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market globally represents about 22% of the entire public cloud market, marking it as the fastest-growing segment, with revenues hitting 36 billion USD in 2018. Projected to grow at an annual rate of 23%, it is expected to soar to 59 billion USD by 2023.

Consequently, cloud computing ecosystems are largely insular. For instance, computing processes and pipelines developed on Google Compute Engine are fundamentally incompatible with those on Amazon WS. This isolationism, historically justified by the speed and efficiency gains from the physical consolidation of computational resources, is now becoming antiquated, stifling the potential and further evolution of the computing market. Crucially, vast reserves of untapped computing power and data lay dormant across private computers, mobile phones, wearables, and other personal devices. Data generated by these devices, though legally owned by the users, is predominantly managed and accessible to vendors and cloud providers. IoT-generated data remains under the lock and key of device manufacturers and their proprietary cloud infrastructures, a practice questionably defended on the grounds of security and privacy, which in turn leads to the formation of sealed, centrally managed data silos within each vendor's domain.

This scenario illustrates a paradox where inherently decentralized physical infrastructures are centrally managed, a model that recent incidents reveal to be suboptimal, even in terms of the security and privacy justifications that originally necessitated closed, centralized infrastructures. It becomes apparent, if not imperative, that future computational architectures must be capable of leveraging these latent or siloed resources of both computing power and data.

Despite ongoing "Cloud wars," the global computing landscape is experiencing disruption by the nascent technologies of the emerging data economy. Technologies such as edge and fog computing are decentralizing computing power across extensive geographical networks of devices, enabled by advancements like ultra-fast broadband, wireless and mobile internet connections, the proliferation of mobile devices with substantial storage and processing capabilities, and sophisticated autonomous robots. Distributed computing technologies facilitate stream computing, microservice architectures, and Internet of Things ecosystems capable of logically managing and executing workflows across diverse machines and locations. Progress in artificial intelligence and machine learning has enabled algorithms to autonomously perform efficient data transformations, requiring minimal human intervention. Furthermore, distributed ledger technologies, featuring cryptographically secure identification, trustless automated interactions, smart contracts, reputation management, and more, are revolutionizing micropayment exchanges among individual processes and microservices, again with minimal to no human oversight.

Given these rapid advancements, the foundational elements necessary for a globally decentralized computing and data economy are already established today. Yet, the platforms of centralized cloud providers remain largely bound by closed networks, proprietary payment systems, and rigid provisioning operations.

These considerations, while technically intricate, hold profound implications for humanity and its future, touching on aspects of our lives in the computational universe that have already surpassed the visions of science fiction authors from mere decades ago. Yet, we are only at the dawn of the computational revolution. Considering the concept of a Technological Singularity, as proposed by thinkers like Kurzweil, potentially occurring mid-century, it is evident that the majority of technologies foundational to this Singularity are yet to be developed and implemented. The principles by which we construct, manage, utilize, and share computational resources across our physical and computational universes will significantly influence our capacity to harness human creativity and shape the future of our world, particularly over the next few crucial decades as AI systems and computational networks increasingly surpass human capabilities in various domains.