Global economies have come to recognize the importance of the “knowledge-based economy” that emphasizes the production, distribution and use of knowledge. Still reeling from the effects of the last global financial crisis, many national economies, such as that of the UK, have diverted investments from tangible to intangible assets, of which knowledge-based sectors are part.

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Some major platforms for knowledge acquisition focus on the workforce, such as LinkedIn, connecting employers and knowledge workers, allowing users to market themselves within industry networks. Others, such as Quora, facilitate knowledge sharing through open networks of community-identified experts, rated and moderated within the networks.

These emerging industries are seeing significant income, largely in part to advertising revenues. LinkedIn recently reported revenues close to $1 billion in Q3 2016, with 25% of that coming from advertising. Quora, valued at $1.8 billion, also started ad monetization in 2016.

Recognized but Underappreciated

Despite the strengthening correlation between economies’ income levels and their capacity to develop and deploy knowledge via human capital, the Human Capital Index 2016  revealed that “the global economy has failed more than a third of the world’s talent”.

Even the modern enterprizes of the knowledge industry fall short, with centralized platforms retaining most or all of the revenue generated from the knowledge producers and sharers using their platforms. While some platforms do financially reward its users for knowledge sharing– such as Steemit, for example – they seem to be unable to provide a way to effectively measure the quantity and quality of knowledge shared.

Introducing Knowledge.io

Knowledge.io, a blockchain-based startup, is aiming to incentivize knowledge sharing with a blockchain-based knowledge sharing platform that will power decentralized networks of people to offer their know-how to those demanding it.

Knowledge.io co-founder, Steven Englander explained the company’s goal to democratize knowledge-sharing through an incentivized model, using the platform’s native token – dubbed Knowledge Tokens:

“By rewarding people with Knowledge tokens, we are able to provide a decentralized knowledge sharing ecosystem where knowledge flows between advertisers, partners, and users for the benefit of the entire community’s decision making in areas such as commerce, education, and employment.”

According to the Knowledge.io team, another shortfall is the ownership of knowledge is that users on all these platforms do not retain ownership or exert control over their content. Their knowledge risks being sold on to providers, advertisers and recruiters.

The Knowledge.io Solution to Value, and Rewarding Knowledge

Knowledge.io introduces a way for people to validate each other’s knowledge and expertise, while connecting experts with advertisers who will conduct transactions with Knowledge tokens. These tokens are rewarded for providing knowledge and can be used to pay for products within the Knowledge.io ecosystem that validates through gamified learning and verification of expertise.

Levels of knowledge possessed by users in particular topics will be represented by the Knowledge Score technology. With a base of over 10 million questions across a topic spectrum, complemented by existing data partnerships with vast, proprietary data sets, Knowledge.io expects the generation of a virtually endless supply of topic-based Questions and Answers.

Beyond incentivization, the platform also tracks learning and records knowledge validation. Knowledge.io believes that this has far-reaching implications for future generations of learners, with opportunities for younger learners to earn enough tokens to potentially pay for higher education and a Knowledge Score that will help prove to the world what they know.

Knowledge.io will launch its ICO on January 15th, 2018, offering up to 50,000,000 Knowledge tokens for sale to the general public. The crowdsale seeks to raise the funds needed for the continued development of its knowledge sharing platform, with the majority of proceeds dedicated to company growth.

Visit the Knowledge.io Official Website to Learn More: http://knowledge.io/