Hi Peter,
Thanks for this. The fragmentation of the cooperative movement is definitely something we’re interested in. I don’t have much relevant experience, but my concern is that I’m not sure that the problems that get in the way of international intercooperation are technical. It doesn’t take any special technology to make an organisation that isn’t a legal entity, and I’m not sure that securing the decision making history and efficiently tracking contributions are particularly large issues compared to the organisational and human problems of federating organisations that live in separate contexts and speak different languages.
In terms of answers to that organisational question, CoTech has been discussing having a person whose job is to facilitate internal intercooperation. If you haven’t seen it I think the latest on that is here but I don’t know where it’s gone. We’re also building one example of a common tool like you describe, a cooperative hosting provider. Around here there seem to be a lot of discussions about policies to prefer buying from other coops first, which feels relevant too as a material way to build intercooperation.
Does Resonate currently have close connections with surrounding coops?