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ICN Pilot Readiness Assessment

What works, what's close, and what a pilot cooperative needs.

Current Demo Flow Status (as of Sprint 16, March 2026)

Flow Name Status Evidence
Flow 1 Governance (proposal → vote → decision → proof) PROVEN Runs clean on K3s. 14-step demo verified 2xx on all calls.
Flow 2 Patronage (surplus distribution with formula transparency) Updated Demo script fixed (PR #1355). Pending K3s redeploy verification.
Flow 3 Federation (cross-coop agreement ratification) PROVEN Runs clean on K3s after fix (PR #1344). Steps 5/6/7 verified 2xx.
Flow 4 Institutional Reporting (federation-wide audit view) Updated No route changes needed. Depends on Flows 1-3 data.

What a Pilot Cooperative Gets

Day 1: Core Governance

A cooperative installs ICN and immediately has:

  • Democratic proposal system. Create proposals with structured payloads (text, budget, allocation). Members vote. Quorum is enforced. Decisions are recorded.
  • Cryptographic receipts. Every governance action produces a verifiable receipt. The receipt chain links proposals to votes to decisions to allocations.
  • Audit trail. Any member can query the full governance history. Any authorized external party (funder, federation, auditor) can verify specific decisions.
  • CLI tools. icnctl provides command-line management for all governance operations, including icnctl audit verify for receipt chain integrity checks.

Month 1: Economic Coordination

With governance established, a cooperative can use:

  • Mutual credit. Track obligations between members or between cooperatives. Double-entry accounting with Merkle-DAG integrity.
  • Patronage distribution. Governance-approved formulas distribute surplus proportionally to contribution. Every step is transparent and auditable.
  • Settlement tracking. Record and verify settlements of mutual obligations. Cross-unit settlements with configurable exchange policies.

Month 3: Federation

Once comfortable with single-node operation:

  • Peer discovery. Find other ICN nodes on the network via mDNS or manual connection.
  • Federation agreements. Ratify cross-organization agreements with governance on both sides.
  • Cross-coop visibility. Read-only access to partner governance records for accountability without control.
  • Resource sharing. Equipment lending, service exchanges, and joint procurement tracked with provenance.

What's Not Ready Yet

Capability Status Timeline
Mobile member app UX spec complete, implementation not started May-Jun 2026
Multi-member identity Single node DID per coop in demo; multi-member requires key management Apr 2026
Automated governance execution Gate wired (PR #1350), full automation in progress Apr 2026
Production hardening Security audit, rate limiting, backup/restore tested Q3 2026

Pilot Requirements

What the cooperative needs:

  • A server, cloud instance, or even a Raspberry Pi (minimum: 2 CPU, 4GB RAM, 10GB storage)
  • A technical contact willing to run icnd and use icnctl (or a managed deployment)
  • At least 3 members willing to participate in governance actions during the pilot
  • A governance decision they actually need to make (not a toy scenario)

What ICN provides:

  • Installation and configuration support
  • Onboarding documentation and guided walkthrough
  • Weekly check-ins during the pilot period
  • Bug fixes prioritized for pilot-blocking issues

Ideal pilot partner characteristics:

  • Active governance need. A cooperative that makes regular collective decisions (budgets, policy, elections)
  • Geographic proximity. Upstate New York preferred for in-person onboarding support
  • Federation interest. A cooperative that coordinates with other cooperatives or community organizations
  • Feedback willingness. Willing to report what works, what breaks, and what's confusing

Candidate Ecosystem

The NY Cooperative Summit network provides the primary pilot recruitment channel:

Organization Type Examples in Network Governance Complexity
Worker cooperatives Rochester-area coops High (labor hours, surplus distribution, elections)
Housing cooperatives Regional housing co-ops Medium (maintenance budgets, capital reserves)
Tool libraries Community tool lending orgs Low-medium (lending policies, membership)
Food cooperatives Finger Lakes food co-ops Medium (member dividends, supplier decisions)
Cooperative federations Regional CDNs High (cross-org coordination, shared services)

Risk Assessment

Risk Likelihood Impact Mitigation
Pilot cooperative lacks technical capacity Medium High Provide managed deployment option
Multi-member identity complexity Medium Medium Start with single-node governance, add members incrementally
Mobile UX not ready for non-technical members High Medium Desktop/CLI pilot first; mobile follows
Pilot org loses interest Low High Choose org with active governance need, not theoretical interest

Missing Inputs for Pilot Launch

  • Named pilot partner (1-3 cooperatives from NY network)
  • Specific governance use case for each partner
  • Managed deployment option (hosted nodes for non-technical coops)
  • Pilot timeline commitment (minimum 3 months)
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