Partnerships¶

Overview¶

Partnerships play an important role in building a more open and resilient mobile ecosystem. Many of the constraints shaping today’s ecosystem are structural rather than technical, and no single organization can meaningfully address them in isolation.

Progress depends on cooperation across software, hardware, research, and community initiatives, particularly where shared challenges affect user choice, long-term sustainability, and governance. When approached carefully, partnerships can reduce duplicated effort, surface blind spots, and create outcomes that would be difficult to achieve independently.

Our approach to partnerships is guided by ecosystem impact, alignment of values, and long-term durability. The aim is not to centralize control or define rigid programs, but to support collaboration where it strengthens openness, preserves contestability, and contributes to healthier technical and governance foundations across the mobile stack.

Areas of Collaboration¶

The areas below reflect parts of the mobile ecosystem where collaboration is especially important today. They are not exhaustive, and they may evolve as the ecosystem and its needs change.

Operating Systems & Platform Software¶

Control over operating systems and system-level services has a disproportionate influence on distribution, defaults, and long-term user choice. Alternative operating systems and platform projects play a critical role in keeping the ecosystem contestable and in extending the useful life of hardware.

Collaboration in this area may involve shared work on platform compatibility, device support, long-term maintenance, or experimentation with different governance and distribution models. This includes community-led operating systems, research platforms, and specialized systems focused on privacy, enterprise use, or new interaction models.

The underlying objective is to ensure that users and developers have viable alternatives that are practical to adopt and sustain over time.

Applications & Services¶

Applications and services sit at the point where users most directly experience ecosystem constraints. Centralized distribution, identity dependencies, and monetization models often shape what is possible long before technical limits are reached.

Collaboration here may involve building or supporting applications and services that run on open mobile platforms, explore alternative distribution or funding models, or reduce dependency on single intermediaries. This includes communication tools, productivity software, developer tooling, and supporting infrastructure.

The aim is to support an application ecosystem that respects user autonomy, encourages interoperability, and remains economically viable without reinforcing structural lock-in.

Hardware, Repair, and Supply Chains¶

Hardware design choices, repairability, and parts availability have long-term consequences for user ownership, environmental impact, and device longevity. These factors are often overlooked despite their central role in shaping real-world outcomes.

Collaboration in this area may involve work on accessories, components, repair networks, refurbishment initiatives, or alternative supply arrangements. Efforts aligned with right-to-repair principles and extended device lifecycles are especially relevant.

The objective is to reduce unnecessary replacement, improve resilience, and support a more sustainable relationship between users and their devices.

Research, Education, and Civil Society¶

Technical systems increasingly intersect with questions of governance, privacy, digital wellbeing, and societal impact. Research and public-interest perspectives are essential to understanding these dynamics and avoiding unintended consequences.

Collaboration in this area may include joint research, educational initiatives, publications, or exploratory projects with universities, research labs, and civil society organizations.

The aim is to ground ecosystem decisions in evidence, contribute to public understanding, and support long-term thinking beyond short-term market incentives.

How We Approach Partnerships¶

We are still developing the long-term structures that will govern partnerships, including formal agreements, roles, and boundaries. Until those structures are in place, collaborations are approached deliberately and evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

In practice, this means focusing on clarity of scope, mutual expectations, and alignment with open and user-centric values, while avoiding exclusivity or dependencies that would undermine ecosystem contestability.

As our governance and operational frameworks mature, we will publish clearer guidance on partnership models and processes.

Get in Touch¶

If you believe there is a constructive way to collaborate within these areas, we’re open to starting a conversation.

📩 Email: [email protected]

When reaching out, it’s helpful to include a brief description of your project or organization, the area you’re working in, and what shared problem or opportunity you see.

We may not be able to pursue every proposal immediately, but we value thoughtful outreach and long-term alignment.