What is the existing target protocol you are hoping to improve or enhance? Eg: hand-washing, traffic system, connector standards, carbon trading.

Governance, using initially ActivityPub but also looking at #dat for p2p application, at the #OMN we are agnostic #4opens protocols, will support and use them all in different applications. Data is just data, people are people, we need to get past the #geekproblem of hard protocol definitions in data coding and transport.

What is the core idea or insight about potential improvement you want to pursue?

After working in this for 3 generations we know what works, and we know all current approaches do not, the formal consensus that underlies the current codebase failed in activism for 20 years before it was hardcode, where its failing agen, no surprise but much repation.

What is your discovery methodology for investigating the current state of the target protocol? Eg: field observation, expert interviews, historical data analysis, failure event analysis

Have worked in the #openweb for 30 years on meany applications and media projects, have been involved in the ActivityPub world since the early mastodon days. For 5 years the #OMN run 5 instances with thousands of users, we recently shut them all down to focus on coding.

In what form will you prototype your improvement idea? Eg: Code, reference design implementation, draft proposal shared with experts for feedback, A/B test of ideas with a test audience, prototype hardware, etc.

We will do a working application and roll it out as a test in real communertys, this can then be iterated and improved by subsequent funding work.

How will you field-test your improvement idea? Eg: run a restricted pilot at an event, simulation, workshop, etc.

We have meany groups to work wilth both online and offline.

Who will be able to judge the quality of your output? Ideally name a few suitable judges.

The Fediverse was created at least partly as a reaction to huge platforms like Twitter and Facebook that sell their user’s behaviour to advertisers etc. It has no center, or rather many independent centers, many hosts, many software creators, but somehow it all hangs together. People have been thinking it needs some kind of governance, among other reasons, to keep it all hanging together through many changes, and also maybe to fend off takeover attempts from surveillance capital. The typical approach to governance is a centralized body, which would be culturally alien. The OMN crew intends governance methods that fit the fediverse form and culture. This approach is worthy of trying and improving in practice.

XXXX, mikorizal.org

I have always seen the internet as a tool for democracy and freedom of communication. As a long-term internet citizen, my perception has shifted as large Internet companies now have centralized the space where activists can post.

OGB (OpenWeb Governance Body) has come out of a collective need on the fediverse for some form of governance on mastodon and other apps in the fediverse.

While it is a decentralized federation, a few large networks can dominate the space. While the internet has standards bodies like the IETF and W3C, these bodies are seen as remote. The average citizen on the fediverse has no access to these processes. The creation of these standards and governance are open. However, there are barriers to this as these are technical standards.

On the larger social networks, citizens on those networks have less ownership of what they put on that network. As well as how much change they can enable on that network.

What OMN is proposing is a system of governance and collective ownership of the fediverse. A system of support for activists and instance owners alike.

XXXXX

How will you publish and evangelize your improvement idea? Eg: Submit proposal to a standards body, publish open-source code, produce and release a software development kit etc.

use the code/apps with real groups solving real issues.

What is the success vision for your idea?

Real groups and real governance playing a increasing role in building alt and #openweb culture.