ICN Pilot Proposal Template

Use this template to approach potential pilot communities. Customize the bracketed sections for each community.

[Community Name] - ICN Pilot Proposal

Date: [YYYY-MM-DD] Contact: [Your name and email]

What is ICN?

ICN (Intercooperative Network) is infrastructure for cooperative coordination - mutual credit, trust-based governance, and secure identity - without central servers or corporate platforms.

Think of it as: "The backend for your cooperative, without the cloud lock-in."

What We're Proposing

A 3-month pilot to replace [specific painful workflow] with ICN-based tooling.

The Problem We'd Solve:

[Describe the specific pain point in 2-3 sentences. Be concrete.]

Example: "Your timebank currently uses a Google Sheet for logging hours. Multiple people edit it, entries get lost, and your treasurer spends 2 hours each month reconciling discrepancies."

The Solution:

[Describe what the pilot would look like. Be specific about what members would do differently.]

Example: "Each member would log hours through a simple web interface. ICN maintains a tamper-evident ledger. Your treasurer can export a clean CSV anytime."

What You'd Get

1. For Members:

   • [Benefit 1, e.g., "Simple web interface to log transactions"]
   • [Benefit 2, e.g., "Always-accurate balance, no spreadsheet confusion"]
   • [Benefit 3, e.g., "Transaction history that can't be accidentally deleted"]

2. For Administrators:

   • [Benefit 1, e.g., "One-click CSV export for tax reporting"]
   • [Benefit 2, e.g., "Audit trail for every change"]
   • [Benefit 3, e.g., "Member management without IT expertise"]

3. For the Community:

   • [Benefit 1, e.g., "Self-hosted, your data stays yours"]
   • [Benefit 2, e.g., "Foundation for future governance features"]
   • [Benefit 3, e.g., "Replicable model for other cooperatives"]

What We Need From You

Time Commitment:

• Initial setup: 2-3 hours (one-time, we'll guide you)
• Weekly feedback: 30 minutes (brief check-in with 2-3 core members)
• Active users: 5-10 members using the system weekly

Technical Requirements:

• One member comfortable with command-line tools (for initial setup)
• Other members only need a web browser
• Stable internet connection

Pilot Scope:

• We're piloting [specific workflows], not replacing everything
• Some features will be rough around the edges - that's why it's a pilot
• We'll iterate together based on what you learn

What We'll Provide

1. Setup Support: We'll help configure your ICN instance
2. Training: Brief walkthrough for administrators and members
3. Weekly Check-ins: 30-minute calls to hear what's working/not working
4. Rapid Fixes: Quick turnaround on blocking issues
5. Documentation: Custom docs for your specific setup

Timeline

Success Criteria

After 3 months, we'll evaluate together:

• 10+ members actively using the system weekly
• Fewer hours spent on administrative reconciliation
• Members prefer ICN over previous system
• Community wants to continue (not mandatory)

Why Your Community?

[Explain why this community is a good fit. Be specific.]

Example: "Your timebank has been operating for 3 years with stable membership. You have real coordination problems (the spreadsheet) but also real trust (members know each other). You're technical enough to tolerate rough edges but non-technical enough to give honest feedback about usability."

What Happens After the Pilot?

If it works:

• You keep running it (we'll support ongoing)
• Your experience helps other communities adopt ICN
• Optional: Become a reference case study

If it doesn't work:

• We export your data in standard formats
• You return to previous system
• No hard feelings - we learned something valuable

Questions You Might Have

Q: Is this free? A: Yes, during the pilot. We're building infrastructure for the cooperative movement. Your feedback is the payment.

Q: What about our existing data? A: We can import historical transactions if you have them in CSV/spreadsheet format.

Q: What if ICN goes away? A: Your data is stored locally on your own machines in standard formats. You always have it.

Q: How private is this? A: ICN is self-hosted - your data never touches our servers. Communication is encrypted. You control access.

Q: Can we customize the UI/features? A: The pilot uses a standard interface. Custom development is possible post-pilot based on what you learn.

Next Steps

1. Discuss internally: Is this something your community wants to try?
2. Identify core users: Who would be the 5-10 most active participants?
3. Schedule a call: Let's talk through specifics and answer questions
4. Trial week: Try it with 2-3 people before full rollout

Interested? Reply to [your email] or schedule a call at [calendly link].

Appendix: What ICN Is (Technical Summary)

For members who want more detail:

• Identity: Decentralized identifiers (DIDs) with Ed25519 cryptography - no passwords, no corporate accounts
• Ledger: Double-entry mutual credit with cryptographic audit trail - like accounting software but tamper-evident
• Trust: Web-of-trust based on direct relationships - members vouch for each other
• Governance: Proposals, voting, and decision tracking (basic in pilot, richer features coming)
• Security: End-to-end encrypted, self-hosted, no cloud dependency

Not blockchain: No tokens, no mining, no speculation. Just cooperative infrastructure.

Appendix: Pilot Selection Criteria

We're looking for communities that:

1. Have existing trust: ICN doesn't create trust, it makes trusted coordination easier
2. Have real pain: Spreadsheet chaos, manual reconciliation, lost records
3. Are open to experiment: Willing to tolerate some rough edges
4. Have digital basics: Members can use web browsers, one person can run CLI commands
5. Will give feedback: Weekly 30-minute check-ins with honest input

We're not looking for:

• Communities that need ICN to build trust from scratch
• Situations requiring enterprise-grade reliability from day one
• Use cases where failure would cause significant financial harm

Template version: 2025-01-17