The network nations ecosystem is a growing constellation of projects, communities, and organizations experimenting with new forms of networked governance and digital sovereignty.
Tracking the Ecosystem
The Network Nations Alliance tracks and indexes organizations operating in the network nations design space. This includes projects that may identify as network states, digital nations, coordi-nations, pop-up cities, or other variations — all part of the broader movement toward self-sovereign, networked communities.
For a structured directory of pilot organizations and projects, see the Network Nations Index.
Categories in the Space
Organizations in the network nations landscape tend to fall into several overlapping categories:
- Community-first networks — Groups that begin with shared identity, values, or purpose and build governance infrastructure around their community.
- Governance experimenters — Projects focused on designing and testing novel decision-making and coordination mechanisms.
- Infrastructure builders — Teams creating the digital civic infrastructure (identity, reputation, voting, treasury) that network nations depend on.
- Research and advocacy — Academic institutions, think tanks, and alliances (like the NNA itself) that study, document, and promote the network nations concept.
- Place-based networks — Projects that combine digital coordination with physical colocation, such as pop-up cities or networked villages.
These categories are not mutually exclusive. Many organizations span several of them, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of this emerging field.
Proto-Network Nations (Community Spotlights)
Organizations and communities profiled in the podcast as examples of Network Nations in practice:
- Burning Man — Translocal community with strong collective identity and regional network of burns
- SeeDAO — Web3 platform and community for the Chinese diaspora
- Regen DAO — Regenerative Web3 ecosystem; self-identified “coordi-nation”
- Cabin — Network city experimenting with decentralized neighborhood governance
- GEN — Global Ecovillage Network — International network of ecovillages with internal passport system
Mutualist & Commons Organizations
- Freelancers Union — Advocacy and mutual benefit for independent workers (Sara Horowitz)
- Mutualist Society — Global mutualist network (Sara Horowitz)
- Mondragon — Spanish federated cooperative federation; model for commons-based scaling
- Sarafu Network — Community currency network, Kenya (Will Ruddick)
- Smart Cooperative — European cooperative umbrella for freelancers; 30,000 full members
- P2P Foundation — Global research network on peer-to-peer and commons dynamics (Michel Bauwens)
Web3 & Governance Infrastructure
- Gitcoin — Public goods funding platform; quadratic funding (Kevin Owocki)
- Democracy Earth — Blockchain-based democratic governance infrastructure (Santiago Siri)
Research & Alliance Organizations
- Blockchain.gov — EU-funded research project; institutional home of the Network Nations series
What Makes a Network Nation?
Not every online community is a network nation. For a fuller exploration of what distinguishes a network nation from other forms of digital community, see What is a Network Nation?.
Key characteristics include self-governance, shared civic infrastructure, trust-building mechanisms, and a commitment to operating beyond the constraints of any single nation-state jurisdiction.