Platform

A unified architecture connecting my systems research across sectors — ideas → protocols → platform.

Humanity-First Platforms

Humanity-First Platforms is the architecture that ties together the whitepapers, briefs, RFCs, and the emerging USG Registry. It describes how systems behave when rights, incentives, and access are represented with clarity—and how better structures produce better human outcomes.

The Three Design Patterns

Across sectors, the same structural grammar appears. These three design patterns define the foundation of the Platform model.

  • Spin-Off Architecture
    Separate operations from governance to stabilize or modernize institutions while preserving mission-aligned control. Spin-offs turn complexity into clarity.
  • Silent Incentive Rewiring
    Shift system behavior by adjusting underlying economics rather than mandates. This pattern appears across streaming, mobility, sports, and media formats.
  • Public-Private Leverage
    Use market tooling—protocols, platforms, capital—to deliver outcomes that resemble public infrastructure while aligning private incentives with public benefit.

Canon → Platform Map

The canon serves as a structured research archive. Each artifact contributes a pattern, mechanism, or sector insight. Together, they form the Platform thesis: rights as addressable objects, incentives as architecture, and systems as interfaces.

The Briefs Layer

Briefs translate research into decision-maker language. They sit between whitepapers and RFCs, turning structural logic into operator-ready guidance.

  • What briefs do
    Distill complex structural models into deployable clarity for executives, funders, and operators.
  • How they're used
    Strategy framing, grant submissions, internal alignment, investment pitches, and pilot scoping.
  • Why they matter
    They reinforce the research workflow: whitepaper → brief → RFC → registry → resolver → platform.

The Protocol Layer

RFC-style documents formalize research into standards-oriented models. RFC 0001 defines the Universal Sports Graph (USG) architecture, while RFC 0002 defines the USG Entitlement Token Profile—the first enforceable contract surface of the stack.

The Registry Layer

The USG Registry (v0.1.1) defines the authoritative namespace for sports-rights data. It establishes versioned objects, validation rules, identifier semantics, and lifecycle models—turning the RFCs into a functional, reference-grade infrastructure surface.

The Resolver Layer

The Resolver makes the Registry referenceable and queryable without turning it into a service promise. It provides stable lookup paths for registry versions, canonical objects, and “latest” pointers—so external readers and tools can reference USG surfaces consistently while the Registry remains the source of truth.

How the System Works

The workflow forms a reinforcing loop: • Whitepapers open a sector • Briefs translate insights • RFCs harden the structure • The Registry defines the namespace • The Resolver makes it addressable and queryable • Platform integrates everything into a coherent systems thesis

Roadmap

Current work focuses on strengthening the protocol stack, expanding the registry, and making USG surfaces easier to reference and pilot through the resolver.

  • Protocol Expansion
    Advance RFC 0003 and future specifications for governance, settlement, event formats, portability, and conformance profiles.
  • Registry Development
    Extend USG Registry v0.1.1 with additional object types, identifier norms, validation rules, and lifecycle semantics.
  • Resolver Hardening
    Stabilize canonical paths for “latest” and versioned lookups, document resolver semantics, and add basic response guarantees (reference-only, no SLA) suitable for pilots and demos.
  • Corpus Organization
    Finalize DOI-backed artifacts, unify metadata, and improve cross-references across the canon (whitepapers ↔ briefs ↔ RFCs ↔ registry ↔ resolver).

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The Approach

Scott Jellen is an independent researcher focused on protocol design, rights modeling, and interoperability across digital and public systems. His flagship work, the Universal Sports Graph (USG), defines a neutral infrastructure layer for representing sports rights through published RFCs and a versioned reference registry. Additional briefs and whitepapers explore how incentive clarity and structural design shape scalable institutions.

© 2026 Scott Jellen. Licensing varies by publication.