Who we are

Founded in 2015 in Brussels, we are a civil society organization (CSO) dedicated to enabling a more human-centric digital future.

Registered as a nonprofit, our mission is to unlock the power of the cooperative Internet, enabling a more human-centric digital future. Our work focuses on creating frameworks for online ecosystems rooted in collaboration, trust, and equitable governance.

 

What we do

We rethink online relationships to build a collaborative Web, where digital trust is distributed, and coordination is both vertical and horizontal.

Our approach leverages the concept of data cooperatives—democratic, multi-stakeholder models designed to address the most pressing challenges in data ownership and management. By integrating the small world phenomenon and a network architecture that mimics offline interactions, we aim to create shared data spaces where accountability is maximally distributed and that foster shared insights and strengthen digital communities. This model prioritizes democratic governance, enhancing collective decision-making and shared economic opportunity in the digital economy.

 

Why we do what we do

Data ownership is at the core of the next technological revolution, and data cooperatives are steering the course.

As the digital landscape shifts from privacy concerns to ownership imperatives, there is a critical need for technologically safe and trustworthy environments. We believe that putting humans—not technologies—at the center of this transformation is key. Data cooperatives uniquely position themselves to close the trust gap, providing not only governance models but also new economic avenues for the communities contributing to the data ecosystem. They are leading the way in creating digitally federated, sovereign architectures that democratize the benefits of the AI-driven economy.

 
“from Many Embers One Heat is felt... (MEOH)”
— Dante’s Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XIX
 

Meet with us

You are welcome to meet with us at these various events.