The Community Exchange System (CES) is a network of trading exchanges in many different countries. Each exchange operates as a separate entity but inter-trading between them is a unique feature of the CES. Each exchange has its own ‘currency’, the value of which is usually based on the national currency. Some are timebanks that use time as their unit of value/account. All registered users are able to trade with any other users in any other exchange. This means that users are able to trade outside their exchanges, either remotely or, if they are travelling or living in the area of another exchange, directly with users of the other exchange. International trades work in exactly the same way as local trades, though a ‘conversion rate’ is automatically applied to convert the numeric representation of one currency into another.
Disabled features
The following are some of the features that have been disabled in the demonstration site:
- Entering trades with users of other exchanges
- Viewing offerings of other exchanges
- Searching for offerings on other exchanges
- Advertising offerings on other exchanges
- Viewing wants of other exchanges
- Advertising wants on other exchanges
- Viewing announcements of other exchanges
- Viewing recommendations of other exchanges
- Making a recommendation for users in other exchanges
- Viewing membership lists of other exchanges
- Viewing profiles of users in other exchanges