> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ipe.city/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ipe.city/ipe-village-2026/why-is-it-important.md).

# Why Is It Important?

Our **Governance systems** are b*uilt on a **250-year-old operating system** consisting of **political institutions**, based on **social constructs** and **papers,** and secured by **guns**.*

Meanwhile, our **modern economy** runs on a ***digital-native operating system**, consisting of the **Internet** and **blockchains**, based on **networks** and **open-source code**, secured by **cryptography**.*

| **System**     | **Traditional Governance**            | **Modern Economy**                 |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| **Foundation** | **🏛️** 250-year-old operating system | 📱 Digital-native operating system |
| **Nature**     | 👥 Political institutions             | 🌐 Internet and blockchains        |
| **Based On**   | 📜 Social constructs and papers       | 💻 Networks and opensource code    |
| **Security**   | 🔫 Guns                               | 🔐 Cryptography                    |

The main reason we have a multi-century technological gap between the governance system and the modern economy is the lack of a frontier for creating new governments or public services from scratch and competing with established systems.

Startups have already created **new companies, media, communities, and even currencies**.

Could they also build new cities and governance systems?

We believe they can.