Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Open-Calls:Emerging-User-Groups
💡 In simple words: Some organisations want to give money so that new groups of people can try WikiDeal for free. This page is about a future call for ideas on how to choose those groups fairly and give them free subscriptions.
🎯 In 20 seconds (scientific summary): A wave 2 Open Call under study: define how targeted pure donations from foundations, NGOs or intergovernmental agencies could fund free subscriptions for emerging User Groups (Wikipedians, jurists, incubation practitioners, social entrepreneurs, women social entrepreneurs). Communication order of magnitude: 1 CHF donated is intended to fund about one month of subscription. Donors choosing profit-oriented reward options (×2 Reward, Customized up to ×100) would be excluded from free subscriptions. Not yet launched.
Draft, under construction, not yet launched. Initial hypothesis, to be refined before launch.
| Open Call Status | |
|---|---|
| Wave | Second Wave (Draft) |
| Status | Not launched yet |
| Members / Commission | Undetermined (Under construction) |
| Chairperson | TBD |
| Facilitator | TBD |
On this page:
- About this call
- The concept: targeted donations
- The beneficiaries: emerging User Groups
- Impact ratio: an order of magnitude
- Eligibility rule for donors (anti-speculation)
- Who does what
- Status
- See also
Open call: emerging User Groups and targeted donations (study)
About this call
This wave 2 call is intended to define the criteria for attributing free subscriptions funded by pure donations. The goal is to stimulate the emergence of new User Groups, regional or international communities that adopt WikiDeal for their own needs. The approach is inspired by open innovation challenge platforms such as InnoCentive, where sponsors fund calls that address a precise societal question.
The concept: targeted donations
The idea being explored: foundations, NGOs or intergovernmental agencies would make pure donations (no financial reward requested) targeted at the emergence of a specific User Group. The Ynternet.org Foundation, which is intended to be the legal owner of the platform, would then distribute free subscriptions to the targeted group, so that its members can start signing contracts on WikiDeal without any entry cost.
This mechanism follows the spirit of open calls: a sponsor identifies a societal challenge, funds it, and the community responds. It is intended to complement, not replace, the regular subscription model.
The beneficiaries: emerging User Groups
Examples of target groups being considered:
- Wikipedians and contributors to free knowledge projects.
- Jurists and legal professionals interested in contract commons.
- Incubation practitioners, people experienced with incubators and project accompaniment.
- Social entrepreneurs.
- Women social entrepreneurs, in line with initiatives supporting female entrepreneurship.
Community leaders in these groups could also receive a batch of subscriptions to distribute within their own community, helping their members migrate to WikiDeal together. How such batches would be sized, attributed and monitored is part of what this call would study.
Impact ratio: an order of magnitude
As a communication order of magnitude only: with the subscription priced at CHF 10 per year, 1 CHF donated as a pure donation is intended to fund roughly one month of subscription for a beneficiary. This is a simplified figure for communication, not an accounting rule.
Note that a possible annual increase of the subscription cost (initial working hypothesis: up to 5% per year, nothing decided) is examined in a separate open call: progressive subscription amount increase. Any such increase would change this ratio over time.
Eligibility rule for donors (anti-speculation)
Donors themselves may wonder whether they can benefit from a free subscription. The rule being explored draws a clear line between generosity and profit-seeking, based on the reward options described in the FAQ for Donors:
- Eligible: donors who choose a pure donation (no financial reward) or the GetBack option (×1) (recovering only the donated amount) could be eligible for a free subscription.
- Excluded: donors who choose profit-oriented reward options, the ×2 Reward or the Customized option (up to ×100 via the bonding curve), would be excluded from free subscriptions.
The intent: free subscriptions are a solidarity tool, not an additional return for donors who already aim at the maximum reward.
Who does what
- Sponsors (foundations, NGOs, intergovernmental agencies) would fund targeted donations.
- The Ynternet.org Foundation would distribute the free subscriptions to the targeted groups.
- Community leaders could relay batches of subscriptions within their communities.
- Contributors would submit attribution criteria and proposals once the call launches.
- The community would decide, transparently, how the criteria enter the model.
Status
Part of the wave 2 calls under study. Deadline and rewards: to be defined at launch.