Public Benefit
Grant Pipeline & Public Goods
CUBEcommons builds open infrastructure. Here's what we've applied for, what we've invested, and why it matters.
Active Applications
| Grant | Funder | Amount | Status | Submitted | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLnet NGI Zero Core | NLnet Foundation | €30,000 | Under Review | 2026-04-01 | ~Jun–Jul 2026 |
| NLnet NGI Entrust | NLnet Foundation | €50,000 | Planned | — | Jun 1 call |
| NSF PESOSE T1 | NSF | $300,000 | Planned | — | Sep 1 deadline |
| ISOC Foundation | Internet Society Foundation | ≤$500,000 | Planned | — | Apr 7 window |
| Open Technology Fund | OTF | $10K–$900K | Planned | — | Rolling |
| Sovereign Tech Fund | STF | €50K+ | Planned | — | Rolling |
| Mozilla Fellows | Mozilla Foundation | $100,000 | Planned | — | — |
| ICANN Grant Cycle 2 | ICANN | $100K–$300K | Planned | — | — |
Pipeline total (if all awarded): ~$930K–$1.8M. Realistic near-term: $50K–$350K. Awarded to date: $0.
In-Kind Investment Valuation
$360,000+
in-kind investment to date
Derivation
- Research output
- 120,000+ lines
- ÷ Lines per productive hour
- 50 (conservative)
- = Developer-hours equivalent
- 2,400+ hours
- × Hourly rate
- $150/hr (senior research engineer)
- = In-kind total
- $360,000+
Methodology: Lerner & Tirole (2002). "The Simple Economics of Open Source."
Supporting Metrics
The Samuelson Gap — Public Goods Framing
Why the market doesn't provide .cube namespace, and why that matters.
Classification
".cube namespace is non-rivalrous and non-excludable — a pure public good (Samuelson 1954)." One registrant using .cube doesn't diminish it for others.
Market Provision
.dev (Google), .cloud (Aruba), .io (Identity Digital) — all proprietary. Vendor-neutral provision of a tech namespace: zero.
The Gap
Closing the Gap
- Grant funding (NLnet, NSF, OTF)
- Public benefit allocation (5–10% of registry revenue)
- PBC governance (mission encoded in law)
Citation: Samuelson, P.A. (1954). "The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure." Review of Economics and Statistics.
Grant Timeline
Current position: NLnet Commons at "Under Review". All others at "Planned".
See also: Sustainability model · Economic model
Open infrastructure. Open funding. Open books.