Kendra Initiative

Kendra Initiative operates as a nonprofit research project dedicated to developing free, open-source software. The organization's legal structure consists of the Kendraio Foundation in the UK and Kendraio Foundation MTÜ in Estonia, both of which are nonprofit and limited by guarantee. With a history spanning over two decades, the project has secured more than 1 million EUR in grant funding to support its research into interoperability and the development of its core product. Funding has been provided by organizations such as Grant for the Web, which is a collaboration between Coil, Mozilla, and Creative Commons.

The central offering is the Kendraio App, a no-code, customizable dashboard designed to empower individuals and groups by providing them with complete ownership and control over their data. This focus on user-centric design, data portability, privacy, and interoperability aims to reduce administrative burdens and stress for its users. The app functions as a "data browser," allowing users to connect to any API and create configurable workflows without needing programming knowledge. Initially conceived as a tool for artists and managers in the music industry to handle asset and rights management, the platform's capabilities have expanded to be applicable across any sector. It enables users to import, view, and analyze data from multiple sources, as well as upload content to various services simultaneously.

The project's initial concept emerged around 2008, with early development work and collaborations taking place in the following years. Daniel Harris is noted as a key figure behind the initiative. The development process is collaborative, building prototypes based on real-world challenges presented by partners from diverse sectors. The Kendraio App allows for the creation of custom dashboards to visualize and manage assets from multiple sources, such as Spotify, YouTube, and Dropbox. The initiative also explores monetization models for the creative industries through a project called Kendraio Pay, which seeks to create a more transparent and fair internet for content creators.

Keywords: nonprofit, open-source software, data ownership, data control, no-code platform, interoperability, data portability, user-centric design, asset management, rights management, API integration, data visualization, creative industries, music industry, data privacy, Daniel Harris, Kendraio Foundation, data dashboard, workflow automation, digital rights