C-Hour
Adapted from the 23 September 2026 plan. The proposed system is open to development with participants.
One hour, recognised
A C-hour is a record of time freely given to a recognised community contribution. One verified hour is one C-hour. Different kinds of contribution have equal time recognition. The accompanying description preserves what the person did, what they learned and who benefited.
An initial software sketch would record time, including contributions shorter than an hour, through intelligent conversation and personally chosen sources. Those sources might include someone’s own account, shared activity details, a phone, a wearable or another participant’s confirmation. How observations support recognition is a pilot question: presence alone tells us little about what someone contributed.
Care already woven into life
Recurring care and informal support deserve particular attention because much of their value is already woven into daily life. Carers, households and the people receiving support would help explore what recognition feels worthwhile and what information is enough. An agent might remember a personally chosen arrangement and ask only when something is unclear. Human verification, where appropriate, would grow from these conversations rather than an assumption that every act needs a signature.
A record people can understand and correct
What would make a contribution record useful to the people involved? A starting sketch includes what happened, roughly when and for how long, how someone wants to be identified, what supports the account and who they want to share it with. These are prompts for developing the agent interaction together, not a settled list imposed on everyone. One possibility is to share a confirmation while keeping its supporting detail in the person’s private environment. Experiences of care, culture and everyday contribution would help reveal what is useful to record and what is better left unrecorded.
The record belongs in a conversation with the people it concerns. What would make it easy to notice an error, revise an account or work through a disagreement? Overlapping care and other activities raise another useful question: how might a record recognise several responsibilities without presenting one elapsed hour as several? The initial distinction between a proposed and a confirmed entry is an idea to test, along with ways of showing uncertainty. The Sensorium chapter explores the personal sovereignty and consent questions behind this work.
Carry experience between communities
A contribution history travelling between willing communities is an appealing possibility. What would make it understandable and trustworthy elsewhere, while leaving the person in charge of sharing it? Each community would bring its own approach to welcome, reciprocity and thanks. Portability here does not imply a financial debt or a promise of an equivalent benefit.