Gov/en/Portal:Onboarding/Glossary:Founding Question

💡 In simple words: WikiDeal's whole project is one big question: Can users own, run and sustain a global marketplace? This page explains what each word of that question really means.

⚠️ Not yet approved. This page describes a proposal that is still under community review. It is documented here so it can be discussed, improved and endorsed.

The founding question

Can users own, run and sustain a global marketplace?

This is the founding research question of WikiDeal. Each word below carries a precise meaning. Together they form the hypothesis the whole project tests. Use the Discussion tab to debate the question as a whole.

CAN

In simple words: “Can” here means: is it possible? It's a challenge we set ourselves — and a way of doing research together.

“Can” is asked in the sense of “is it possible?” It frames WikiDeal as a challenge and a research and development effort: maybe we will be able to apply this model at large scale, and we hope it can demonstrate something meaningful. WikiDeal is a proof of concept — a question we test rather than a promise we make.

This stands in the pure tradition of citizen science: open, participatory inquiry whose values and criteria belong to the community, not to a single owner. The whole project is an experiment run in public, documented openly, and improved collectively.

See also: Citizen science · Proof of concept · Open research.

USERS

In simple words: “Users” are the people at the heart of WikiDeal — not customers, but actors who help build and run it, and who have a say.

“Users” is the fundamental element of the question. It signals that WikiDeal is an agreement — a set of shared rules that bind people together so that they all feel like users, not customers.

The notion of the user is at the core of WikiDeal's dynamic. Users are not consumers: they are actors in the project. They take part, they must agree, and they have a say in how things work. Their key role — contributing, governing, deciding — is what makes a community-owned marketplace possible.

See also: Prosumer · Stakeholder · Community Portal.

OWN

In simple words: “Own” means owned together by everyone — shared ownership, like a commons.

“Own” is used in the sense of shared ownership — the commons. WikiDeal is not owned by shareholders or a single company; it is meant to be held in common by its community of users.

This connects WikiDeal to the long tradition of the commons and commons-based peer production: resources that a community governs and stewards together, for collective benefit rather than private profit.

RUN

In simple words: “Run” means it actually works — efficiently, smoothly, and it keeps going and grows.

“Run” means the platform works: it is efficient, lasting, fluid and manageable. It implies quality criteria, coherence, and operational soundness — the marketplace doesn't just exist, it functions well day to day.

It also captures the idea that the platform deploys and scales: it can grow and spread while staying coherent and reliable.

See also: Operational excellence · Scalability · Governance.

AND

In simple words: “And” is the key condition: it's not enough to run the platform — you must also keep it sustainable for the long term.

“And” marks a key condition in the question. It expresses that managing the platform is not enough — you must also guarantee its durability.

“Run and sustain” means both halves are required: a marketplace that works today but cannot last is not the goal. The conjunction links short-term operation to long-term sustainability (see Sustain).

See also: Sustain · Sustainability.

SUSTAIN

In simple words: “Sustain” means lasting over time — being able to keep going for years without harming people or the planet.

“Sustain” is the dimension of durability and sustainability. A marketplace must be able to last — economically, socially and environmentally — not just launch and fade.

This includes the broader meaning of sustainability captured by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): social fairness, ecological responsibility, and durable institutions. WikiDeal's model aims to be economically self-sustaining without advertising, speculation, or shareholder extraction.

A

In simple words: “A” means just one — a single shared platform for everything, instead of many separate ones.

The article “A” carries a strong idea: there should be only one marketplace that handles everything — not many. A single shared platform for all is one of the important keys to success.

The reasoning: we deprivatize by commonising, and we commonise by enabling a much more dynamic internal competition — one that is energetic precisely because the rules of the game build trust and reward merit, while at the same time fostering real cooperation. WikiDeal is meant to be cooperative and meritocratic at once.

See also: Global · Co-opetition · Deprivatization.

GLOBAL

In simple words: “Global” means one single worldwide platform that covers everything, shared and open to all.

“Global” expresses that there should be a single platform covering everything, rather than many fragmented ones. A unified, worldwide commons is treated as a key success factor.

WikiDeal deprivatizes by commonising: instead of many competing private silos, one shared platform hosts a dynamic internal competition grounded in trust and merit, alongside genuine cooperation. The result is meant to be both cooperative and meritocratic — global in reach, common in ownership.

See also: A (only one) · Commons · Co-opetition.

MARKETPLACE

In simple words: “Marketplace” is where people make deals — both in the physical world and online. Many small players team up on one platform to outdo the giants.

A “marketplace” is by nature mixed: physical and digital. WikiDeal builds on the principle behind the marketplaces that took the lead by serving the long tail — and it is precisely where the long tail can be re-placed at the centre.

The fundamental mechanism: all the small players ally on a single platform, and together they can outcompete the large incumbents easily. This is the key answer-hypothesis to the founding question — combined with the whole Wikipedia-style ecosystem of open governance around it and WikiDeal's granting and reward innovations.

See also: The Long Tail · Online marketplace · Innovations.

See also: Glossary · Governance & R&D · Home.