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Towards a Formal Theory of Protocols

Talk Benitesh Raalo
researcher practitioner
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Benitesh Raalo kicks off the Protocol Institute's Technical Foundations track, announcing a new special interest group dedicated to formal modeling of protocols. Raalo positions this work as establishing mathematical and theoretical foundations for protocol studies analogous to how economics formalized markets or control theory formalized manufacturing, with plans for a six-month study group featuring bi-weekly co-working sessions and collaborative paper reading.

Related resources

Paper

2023 Retrospectus

The 2023 Retrospectus is a collection of essays from the Summer of Protocols initiative examining how protocols function across social, economic, and technological domains, featuring contributions on topics ranging from killswitch mechanisms and protocolized economics to memory-making and emergency response systems. The volume presents a multidisciplinary exploration of protocols as generative frameworks for organizing collective behavior, coordination, and cultural production in both digital and physical contexts.

organizations protocols research

Summer of Protocols

Article

2026 Protocol Symposium: New Nature

The 2026 Protocol Symposium, the third edition of the flagship event for protocol studies, will be held online September 21-25 with the theme 'New Nature,' exploring the technological layer shaped by AI and protocols. Abstract submissions for talks and workshops are open until June 14, 2026, with registration to follow once the schedule is finalized.

obliquities organizations protocols

Venkatesh Rao

Talk

A Protocol Fiction Protocol

Benitesh Raalo presents an informal talk on protocol fiction as a genre and methodology, framing it through the lens of theatrical performance (Kabuki) as an analogy for how protocols function as narratives. The talk explores protocol fiction as both a creative practice and a framework for understanding complex systems, introducing the concept of protocol fiction protocols—meta-protocols that govern the creation and analysis of speculative protocol narratives.

fiction protocol-fiction protocol-fiction-protocols

Benitesh Raalo

Topics

formal-models-of-protocols organizations protocol-theory-formalization protocols special-interest-groups study-group-methodology technical-foundations town-hall