Zerocomms

A backup for your information architecture.

What happens when the cloud goes down? When a power outage, cyberattack, or severed cable takes out the systems your crisis response depends on?

Zerocomms keeps critical information available locally: plans, maps, procedures, contacts. Even when internet and cloud are gone. Think of it as an emergency generator, but for information.

The problem

Crisis organisations have become deeply dependent on a handful of central systems and commercial platforms. When those fail, more goes down than you'd think.

The dependency chain in a crisis Local locations Fire station First response Policy team Coordination Dispatch Control room Central systems Cloud, SaaS SharePoint, map layers, chat, procedures Outside your country Big tech Microsoft, AWS, Google One disruption in the chain = everything stops Outage, cyberattack, cable cut, power failure, geopolitics

We solved this for electricity. Not yet for information.

Every dispatch centre, every hospital, every critical location has an emergency generator. Not because the power grid is unreliable, but because the consequences of failure are too large to depend on a single source.

Emergency generator principle applied to information Power supply Power grid Primary source fails Emergency generator Local fallback, ready Accepted, organised, tested, obvious Information supply Cloud, SaaS Primary source fails ? No local fallback Not organised, single point of failure

For power we have the emergency generator. For information, we have Zerocomms.

How it works

A small device, about the size of a shoebox, sits at every critical location. It does three things.

The three functions of a Zerocomms device Zerocomms device At every critical location 1. Local copy Plans, maps, procedures, contacts News cache (text) Synced via uplink 2. Wifi hotspot Connect your phone, open a browser, done No apps, no accounts 3. Communication Via Starlink, 4G, microwave link Whatever still works A backup for your information architecture

What still works, when?

Every combination of power and internet, honestly scored — including the situations where Zerocomms is limited too. No scenario was picked to flatter us.

Situation Your usual tools cloud, email, chat Zerocomms on site Zerocomms between locations
Power ✓Internet ✓ A normal day ✓ Works ✓ WorksSyncs quietly in the background ✓ Works
Power ✓Internet ✓ Big tech blocked: geopolitics, trade sanctions, a vendor hack ✗ DownEmail, documents and chat live at Microsoft, Google and Meta — and can be switched off from abroad ✓ Works ✓ WorksPlain internet is enough; no big-tech dependency
Power ✓Internet ~ International cables cut or sabotaged ? UnclearDoes your email still work when it routes through a US cloud? Nobody can say in advance. ✓ Works ✓ WorksSyncs over whatever domestic connectivity remains
Power ✓Internet ✗ National outage, major cyberattack ✗ Down ✓ WorksEverything from the last sync ? DependsNeeds any surviving uplink: Starlink, a 4G island, a microwave link
Power ✗Internet ✓ Regional blackout; the grid beyond is fine ? UnclearThe cloud is up, but your routers, wifi and workstations are dark; phones last as long as their batteries ✓ WorksRuns on a small UPS ✓ WorksIf its uplink is on backup power too
Power ✗Internet ✗ Severe storm, full blackout ✗ Down ✓ WorksOn UPS: plans, maps and contacts from the last sync ? DependsOnly once an uplink returns — say, Starlink on a generator

✓ works · ? uncertain or conditional · ✗ down

Why this is different

Why Zerocomms is different from traditional platforms Aspect Traditional platform Zerocomms Code ownership Vendor Open-source, public Legal domain Often outside EU Dutch foundation If we disappear Product disappears Code stays yours Deployment time Months to years One morning per site Hardware Often proprietary Standard, replaceable Cost per location High, limited scale Low, broad rollout Sovereignty + speed + affordability = by design
Current status

Building a pilot

We are building a pilot project with Veiligheidsregio Noord- en Oost-Gelderland (VNOG), a Dutch safety region responsible for fire services, disaster response and crisis management in the Achterhoek and North Veluwe area.

About

Zerocomms is built and maintained by Stichting Elemental (Elemental Foundation), a Dutch non-profit. Fully open-source. No shareholders, no vendor lock-in.

Your hardware. Your data. Our code is public. If we disappear tomorrow, every IT department can carry on.

Contact

Feel free to send us an email any time at: inbox@elementalfoundation.eu

Elemental Foundation · Non-profit · Located at Terneuzen, in The Netherlands