Autarky enables digital independence through a self-hosted digital platform running on local hardware. The word autarky comes from the Greek αὐτάρκεια, meaning self-sufficiency, derived from αὐτο, self, and ἀρκέω, to suffice.
Autarky is about shaping the digital so it finds a healthy place in our lives. It favors local systems, low-power hardware, and calm technology that respects attention, limits intrusion, and serves real needs rather than creating new ones.
An Autarky node is a small computer at home that gives you your own place on the internet. Think of a space for your files and documents, or your own website, or webshop on your own domain.
Everything is managed from a simple web app, so it doesn't take a system administrator to run one.
Autarky fits naturally with people who already practice self-sufficiency in other parts of their lives. The modest hardware lives in your home, consumes little power, and can run on solar energy, making it suitable for remote or temporary settings. Even without internet access, Autarky continues to function locally.
This page is served by a Raspberry Pi drawing under 3 watts, less than a single LED bulb. That is less than €10 of electricity a year:
3 W × 24 h × 365 days ≈ 26 kWh × €0.32/kWh ≈ €8.50
Autarky nodes are not meant to stand alone, nor to grow into one big platform. A node connects to a few others: a friend, a family member, a neighbour. People you actually know and trust.
Connected nodes do all kinds of things for each other. Keeping an encrypted copy of each other's backups is one of them. And if your little computer ever dies or gets lost, bringing your node back is smooth and simple: you start a new one, and your friends' nodes help it restore everything.
The network stays small on purpose: real trust between real people, instead of trust in a distant company or giant social network.
Autarky is not just a technical choice. It has grown out of community living, permaculture, and practical self-reliance. It exists to augment real life, not replace it. The core idea is simple: the most important is not the Digital, but people and places.
Autarky is for anyone who wants their own small place online, run from home, together with a friend or two. Interested in running a node, or in being the friend who backs one up? Write to hallo@lokaaldigitaal.org.
Autarky is a project by digital.minck.be and lokaaldigitaal.org.