# Interlink Foundation ## Interlink Foundation Whitepaper **Version:** 0.1 (draft)\ **Last updated:** 2026-03-11\ **Status:** For internal review {% hint style="info" %} This draft avoids inventing facts.\ Replace any `[PLACEHOLDER]` with your real values.\ If you share your specifics, I can turn this into a final v1.0. {% endhint %} ### Abstract Interlink Foundation is a mission-led organization focused on building and sustaining shared infrastructure. The Foundation coordinates funding, governance, and standards work. It exists to reduce duplication, improve interoperability, and keep critical systems reliable. ### Why the Foundation exists Modern ecosystems depend on shared components. Many of these components are underfunded and poorly maintained. Coordination failures create fragmentation, security risk, and vendor lock-in. Interlink Foundation addresses these issues by: * Funding and maintaining critical public goods. * Setting open standards and reference implementations. * Creating neutral governance for cross-organization collaboration. * Measuring outcomes and publishing transparent reports. ### Problem statement #### Underinvestment in public goods Open infrastructure often has diffuse benefits. Costs are concentrated on a few teams. This leads to brittle dependencies and burnout. #### Fragmented standards Teams ship incompatible solutions. Users pay integration costs repeatedly. Interoperability lags behind ecosystem growth. #### Trust and neutrality gaps Single-vendor control can block adoption. Users want predictable rules and continuity. Neutral stewardship increases confidence. ### Vision and goals #### Vision A healthy ecosystem of interoperable tools and services. Shared infrastructure is well-funded, secure, and easy to adopt. #### Goals (12–24 months) * Establish a durable governance and funding model. * Launch a transparent grants and maintenance program. * Publish core standards and adoption guidelines. * Build a contributor and partner network across sectors. #### Non-goals * Competing with commercial products. * Creating closed standards or exclusive partnerships. * Operating as a single-team “platform owner”. ### Principles * **Openness:** standards, processes, and outputs are public by default. * **Interoperability first:** optimize for integration and portability. * **Security as a baseline:** treat security work as maintenance, not a feature. * **Neutral governance:** decisions are explainable and contestable. * **Sustainability:** fund operations and maintenance, not only new builds. * **Measurable impact:** track adoption, reliability, and ecosystem health. ### Scope The Foundation’s scope is defined by a maintained “Scope Charter”. This whitepaper covers the initial operating model. #### In scope (initial) * Standards and specs for interoperability. * Reference implementations and test suites. * Security reviews and coordinated disclosure support. * Maintenance funding for critical dependencies. * Developer education and ecosystem tooling. #### Out of scope (initial) * Direct operation of production customer workloads. * Exclusive vendor programs. * Private standards restricted to members. ### Operating model #### Programs **1) Standards program** Publishes specs, conformance tests, and compatibility guidance. Outputs are versioned and change-controlled. \[PLACEHOLDER: list initial standards areas, e.g. “identity”, “data formats”, “protocols”.] **2) Grants and maintenance program** Funds maintainers and critical workstreams. Prioritizes reliability, security, and long-term support. Grant categories: * **Maintenance grants:** keep existing projects healthy. * **Security grants:** audits, fuzzing, patching, disclosure support. * **Interoperability grants:** adapters, compatibility layers, test suites. * **Research grants:** prototypes and pre-standard exploration. **3) Ecosystem program** Supports adoption through education and integrations. Focuses on documentation, tooling, and partner enablement. #### How work is selected Selection uses transparent criteria: * Ecosystem criticality. * User impact and adoption potential. * Security and reliability risk reduction. * Feasibility and maintainer capacity. * Avoiding duplication of existing efforts. Each funded initiative publishes: * A charter and success metrics. * A public timeline and progress updates. * A post-mortem or final report. ### Governance This section defines roles and decision-making. It is designed to be neutral and auditable. #### Bodies and roles * **Board:** fiduciary oversight, budget approval, executive hiring. * **Steering Committee:** strategy, program priorities, conflict resolution. * **Working Groups:** domain decisions, specs, and implementation plans. * **Maintainers Council (optional):** maintainer feedback and escalation path. \[PLACEHOLDER: insert your real governance structure and names only if you publish them.] #### Decision process Working groups aim for rough consensus. When consensus fails, escalation paths are explicit. All decisions should have: * A written proposal. * Recorded objections. * A final rationale. #### Conflict of interest Members disclose employment and financial interests. Voting rules handle conflicted participants. COI policy is published and enforced. ### Transparency and reporting The Foundation publishes: * Quarterly program updates. * Annual impact report and audited financials. * Grants awarded, amounts, and deliverables. * Standards changelogs and governance decisions. {% hint style="warning" %} If you need private-by-default reporting, state that explicitly here.\ Otherwise, assume public-by-default. {% endhint %} ### Funding model Interlink Foundation is funded through diversified sources. This reduces capture risk and improves stability. #### Funding sources * Donations and sponsorships. * Membership dues (if applicable). * Grants from institutions. * Program-specific restricted funding (with guardrails). \[PLACEHOLDER: specify whether you have membership tiers, benefits, and pricing.] #### Budget allocation (guidelines) Allocate funding across: * Maintenance and security work. * Standards development and testing. * Operations and compliance. * Community and ecosystem support. \[PLACEHOLDER: insert target percentages only if you have them.] ### Technical strategy (reference architecture) This whitepaper stays tech-neutral unless you specify a stack. Use this section to describe what “interoperability” means in practice. #### Interoperability layers * **Data:** canonical formats, schemas, and versioning rules. * **APIs and protocols:** stable contracts and deprecation policy. * **Identity and trust:** authentication, authorization, and key management. * **Conformance:** test suites, certification, and compatibility matrices. #### Artifacts to publish * Specifications with clear normative language. * Reference implementations that are minimal and readable. * Conformance tests that run in CI. * Threat models and security guidance. #### Compatibility policy Define: * Versioning scheme. * Deprecation windows. * Backward compatibility expectations. \[PLACEHOLDER: state your policy, e.g. SemVer + 12-month deprecation window.] ### Security model Security is treated as a first-class maintenance activity. #### Practices * Coordinated vulnerability disclosure process. * Security advisories and patch timelines. * Dependency monitoring and SBOM support where relevant. * Regular audits for critical components. \[PLACEHOLDER: add your security contact and disclosure channel.] ### Legal and compliance The Foundation maintains baseline compliance. This includes contracts, IP policy, and license hygiene. #### IP and licensing Prefer permissive, widely adopted licenses where appropriate. Ensure contributor agreements are clear and minimal. \[PLACEHOLDER: state CLA/DCO approach, trademarks policy, and license policy.] ### Community and participation Interlink Foundation succeeds through contributors and partners. #### Ways to participate * Join a working group. * Contribute to specs or implementations. * Apply for funding or maintenance support. * Provide feedback through public issues and RFCs. \[PLACEHOLDER: add links to your repo, forums, and meeting cadence.] #### Code of conduct The Foundation enforces a clear code of conduct. It protects contributors and users. \[PLACEHOLDER: add your CoC link and enforcement contact.] ### Roadmap This is a suggested sequencing. Replace milestones with your real plan. #### Phase 1: Setup (0–3 months) * Finalize charter and governance. * Publish initial scope and principles. * Stand up working groups. * Launch basic grants intake and review process. #### Phase 2: Delivery (3–9 months) * Publish first standards drafts and conformance tests. * Fund first maintenance and security grants. * Release reference implementations. * Publish first quarterly report. #### Phase 3: Scale (9–24 months) * Expand standards coverage based on adoption. * Establish certification or conformance badges (optional). * Deepen partner network and long-term funding commitments. * Publish annual impact report and audited financials. ### Risks and mitigations #### Capture risk Mitigation: diversified funding and COI enforcement. #### Fragmentation risk Mitigation: clear compatibility policy and conformance tooling. #### Maintainer overload Mitigation: pay for maintenance and improve triage workflows. #### Security incidents Mitigation: disclosure process, audits, and response playbooks. ### Appendix #### Glossary * **Public goods:** assets with broad benefits and shared usage. * **Conformance:** ability to meet a published spec via tests. * **Reference implementation:** minimal implementation used to validate a spec. #### Changelog * **0.1 (2026-03-11):** Initial draft structure and operating model. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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