Progress & Evidence
What Exists, What Doesn't Yet
This page exists so a serious reader can distinguish execution from intention. Every claim about implementation, traction, or architecture below either links to evidence or is clearly labeled as a target. Current phase: architectural definition, with two independently operating projects informing the design.
Maturity Model
Every project and capability on this site uses one controlled vocabulary. We avoid words like "active," "deployed," "proven," "operates," or "powers" unless a reader can inspect corresponding evidence.
| Label | Meaning | Evidence expected |
|---|---|---|
| Operating | A real service currently used or sold | Live URL, responsible operator, current function |
| Prototype | A working demonstration validates part of a workflow | Demo, repository, screenshots, test notes |
| In research | Architecture or organizational model is being investigated | Dated research, open questions, decision log |
| Concept | Defined use case without a working implementation | Problem statement, intended users, dependencies |
| Planned | Approved next build after dependencies or funding | Scope, budget range, milestone, success criterion |
What Operates Independently Today
TechSpecific.com
An operating systems-engineering, hosting, and managed-IT practice. Runs independently of The Network today; intended as its future stewardship engine.
Chuck's List (chuckslist.info)
An operating regional bulletin and community-information project. Runs independently of The Network today; informs bulletin, curation, and discovery module design.
What Has Been Prototyped
Nothing yet at the Network-protocol layer
No identity, federation, voting, or data-sovereignty module has a working prototype. This section will be updated the moment one exists, with a link to the demo, repository, and test notes.
What Remains Conceptual
YoService.work
Community-accountable service marketplace — problem statement and intended users defined; no implementation.
Nean's Place
Regional creator/artisan marketplace — problem statement and intended users defined; no implementation.
Special-needs family networks
Coordination tools for caregivers and guardians — defined use case, no implementation.
Vulnerable citizen protection networks
Pseudonymous, trust-scored community safety nets — defined use case, no implementation.
Civic & municipal participation
Participatory budgeting and polling tools — defined use case, no implementation.
Architectural Decisions Made
- Research direction includes the AT Protocol (persistent DIDs, signed data repositories, Personal Data Servers, relays, and application views) for portable identity and hosting migration.
- Research direction includes AO/Arweave for permanent-record storage and an EVM-compatible finality layer, alongside SvelteKit, Matrix, and RxDB for application/sync layers.
- Federation is treated as a hosting/portability property, not a privacy guarantee — public or broadly replicated signed records can still expose sensitive relationships.
- Immutable storage is scoped as selective and exceptional, especially where deletion, correction, vulnerable users, or personal data are involved.
Open Technical & Governance Questions
- Which DID method(s) The Network will standardize on, and how key management/recovery works for non-technical users.
- How private voting can be implemented without breaking auditability, and which threat model it needs to resist.
- Which chain (or whether a chain at all) provides the finality layer, and what its operating cost/complexity is for a small deployment.
- What TechSpecific's employee-ownership transition structure will actually be (cooperative conversion, employee ownership plan, multi-stakeholder cooperative, or another form) — see the Funding & Partnership page.
Risks & Dependencies
- Capital formation, collective decision-making, member participation, and scaling are documented, material challenges for platform cooperatives generally — not solved by this project by default.
- DID-based identity systems require careful privacy-by-design, key management, and access-control work; the underlying protocol does not itself guarantee sovereignty or privacy.
- No pilot, user interview, or demand-validation evidence exists yet for YoService or Nean's Place beyond the problem statement.
Dated Milestones & Repository Activity
The public TheNetwork repository is the primary source of truth for architecture decisions and their dates. This page summarizes it; the repository is authoritative. Full technical depth (system model, architecture layers, identity/hosting model, governance threat model) lives at /docs.