Dear .NET nanoFramework Community & Sponsors,

Thank you for your continued support of .NET nanoFramework. Your contributions have been instrumental in making nanoFramework a leading platform for embedded C# development on constrained devices.

We're launching an ambitious initiative to add production-grade In-Field Update (IFU) capabilities to nanoFramework. This is a strategic step that will transform the platform from a development solution into a complete lifecycle-ready platform for professional embedded products.

Today, updating devices in the field requires physical access and manual intervention. With IFU, developers and organizations will be able to:

- Deploy security patches and firmware updates remotely

- Rollback failed updates automatically

- Reduce service costs and operational disruptions dramatically

- Enable long-term device management for deployed installations

This capability is now standard in professional IoT and embedded systems. Adding it to nanoFramework is essential for competing in industrial, building automation, and connected device markets.

We're integrating MCUboot – the industry-standard secure bootloader used by Arm Trusted Firmware and Zephyr – combined with mcumgr device management protocol and modern update retrieval mechanisms.

Full technical details are available in the executive Summary – IFU for .NET nanoFramework.

The MVP is estimated at 14-20 developer-weeks, with comprehensive hardening and expansion in Phase 1.

This is specialized work that goes beyond what we can handle with best-effort, volunteer contributions. It requires focused engineering effort from experienced contributors familiar with nanoFramework internals and embedded platform integration.

Your support directly enables this work. Every contribution – whether $50 or $5,000 – moves us closer to making this reality.

Increase your sponsorship to support the IFU initiative:

- $500+: Help accelerate MVP delivery

- $1,000+: Sponsor a major work package

- $5,000+: Become a founding sponsor with direct influence on priorities

GitHub Sponsors or OpenCollective – contributions through either channel are welcome.

In-kind contributions also welcome: engineering time, infrastructure support, testing resources, or partnerships with device management platforms.

By supporting IFU, you're:

- Strengthening the platform you already use and trust

- Enabling nanoFramework to compete in enterprise and industrial markets

- Building a more complete, professional offering for your own projects

- Supporting an open-source ecosystem that benefits everyone

- Increase your sponsorship: OpenCollective | GitHub Sponsors | Invoice from the development team 

- Questions or want to discuss? Join us on Discord or comment on the GitHub issue

- Share the word: Help us reach others who might want to sponsor

Together, we can bring .NET nanoFramework to the next level.

Thank you for believing in this project.

Best regards,

The .NET nanoFramework Team

- Executive Summary – IFU for .NET nanoFramework

- GitHub Repository

- OpenCollective