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43 changes: 26 additions & 17 deletions docs/accordproject.md
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---
id: accordproject
title: Overview
description: "Overview of the Accord Project: the open-source industry standard for Smart Legal Contracts. Learn how we digitize contracts for businesses, lawyers, and developers."
keywords: [Accord Project, Smart Legal Contracts, Blockchain, LegalTech, Concerto, Ergo, Cicero]
---

## What is the Accord Project?
Expand All @@ -15,44 +16,52 @@ The Accord Project provides a universal format for smart legal contracts, and th

### For Businesses

:::info For Businesses
Contracting is undergoing a digital transformation driven by a need to deliver customer-centric legal and business solutions faster, and at lower cost. This imperative is fueling the adoption of a broad range of new technologies to improve the efficiency of drafting, managing, and executing legal contracting operations; the Accord Project is proud to be part of that movement.

The Accord Project provides a Smart Contract that does not depend on a blockchain, that can integrate text
and data and that can continue operating over its lifespan. The Accord Project smart contract can integrate with your technology platforms and become part of your digital infrastructure.
The Accord Project provides a **Smart Contract** that does not depend on a blockchain, that can integrate text and data and that can continue operating over its lifespan. The Accord Project smart contract can integrate with your technology platforms and become part of your digital infrastructure.

In addition, contributions from businesses are crucial for the development of the Accord Project. The expertise of stakeholders, such as business professionals and attorneys, is invaluable in improving the functionality and content of the Accord Project's codebase and specifications, to ensure that the templates meet real-world business requirements.
In addition, contributions from businesses are crucial for the development of the Accord Project. The expertise of stakeholders, such as business professionals and attorneys, is invaluable in improving the functionality and content of the Accord Project's codebase and specifications.

If this interests you, please visit our [Lifecycle and Industry Working Groups](https://www.accordproject.org/liwg) page for more information.
> **Interested?** Visit our [Lifecycle and Industry Working Groups](https://www.accordproject.org/liwg) page for more information.
:::

### For Lawyers

The Legal world is changing and Legal Tech is growing into a billion dollar industry. The modern lawyer has to be at home in the digital world. Law Schools now teach courses in coding for lawyers, computational law, blockchain and artificial intelligence. Legal Hackers is a world wide movement uniting lawyers across the world in a shared passion for law and technology. Lawyers need to move beyond the written word on paper.
:::tip For Lawyers
The Legal world is changing and Legal Tech is growing into a billion dollar industry. The modern lawyer has to be at home in the digital world. Law Schools now teach courses in coding for lawyers, computational law, blockchain and artificial intelligence.

The template in an Accord Project Contract is pure legal text that can be drafted by lawyers and interpreted by courts. An existing contract can easily be transformed into a template by adding data points between curly braces that represent the Concerto model and Ergo logic can be added as an integral part of the contract. The template language is subject to judicial interpretation and the Concerto model and Ergo logic can be interpreted by a computer creating a bridge between the two worlds.
The template in an **Accord Project Contract** is pure legal text that can be drafted by lawyers and interpreted by courts. An existing contract can easily be transformed into a template by adding data points between curly braces that represent the **Concerto** model, and **Ergo** logic can be added as an integral part of the contract.

As a lawyer, contributing to the Accord Project would be a great opportunity to learn about smart legal contracts. Through the Accord Project, you can understand the foundations of open source technologies and learn how to develop smart agreements.
Contributing to the Accord Project is a great opportunity to learn about smart legal contracts and open source technologies.

If your organization wants to become a member of the Accord Project, please [join our community](https://discord.com/invite/Zm99SKhhtA).
> **Join us:** If your organization wants to become a member, please [join our community](https://discord.com/invite/Zm99SKhhtA).
:::

### For Developers

The Accord Project provides a universal format for smart legal contracts, and this format is embodied in a variety of open source projects that comprise the Accord Project technology stack. The Accord Project is an open source project and welcomes contributions from anyone.

The Accord Project is developing tools including a [Visual Studio Code plugin](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=accordproject.cicero-vscode-extension), [React based web components](https://github.com/accordproject/web-components) and a command line interface for working with Accord Project Contracts. You can integrate contracts into existing applications, create new applications or simply assist lawyers with developing applications with the Ergo language.
:::important For Developers
The Accord Project is an open source initiative and welcomes contributions from anyone. We provide a universal format for smart legal contracts, embodied in our core technology stack.

There is a welcoming community on Discord that is eager to help. [Join our Community](https://discord.com/invite/Zm99SKhhtA)
**Tools for Developers:**
* [Visual Studio Code plugin](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=accordproject.cicero-vscode-extension)
* [React-based web components](https://github.com/accordproject/web-components)
* Command Line Interface (CLI)

You can integrate contracts into existing applications, create new applications, or assist lawyers with developing applications with the **Ergo** language.

## About this documentation
> **Get Involved:** There is a welcoming community on Discord that is eager to help. [Join our Community](https://discord.com/invite/Zm99SKhhtA)
:::

If you are new to Accord Project, you may want to first read about the notion of [Smart Legal Contracts](accordproject-slc.md) and about [Accord Project Templates](accordproject-template.md). We also recommend taking the [Online Tour](accordproject-tour.md).
---

To start using Accord Project templates, follow the [Install Cicero](https://docs.accordproject.org/docs/next/started-installation.html) instructions in the _Getting Started_ Section of the documentation.
:::note Quick Start
To start using Accord Project templates, follow the [Install Cicero](https://docs.accordproject.org/docs/next/started-installation.html) instructions in the _Getting Started_ Section.
:::

You can find in-depth guides for the different components of a template in the _Template Guides_ part of the documentation:
- Learn how to write contract or template text in the [Markdown Text](markup-preliminaries.md) Guide
- Learn how to design your data model in the [Concerto Model](https://concerto.accordproject.org/docs/intro) Guide
- Learn how to write smart contract logic in the [Ergo Logic](logic-ergo.md) Guide

Finally, the documentation includes several step by step [Tutorials](tutorial-templates.md) and some reference information (for APIs, command-line tools, etc.) can be found in the [Reference Manual](ref-glossary.md).