Detailed Plan

The current Catalyst process - even if in practice is almost completely decentralized allowing anyone to participate in the various roles, from the operational perspective relies on centralized platforms (such as IdeaScale, Google Docs, etc) that could be tampered with and censored or controlled.

The idea behind this proposal is to start research into the definition of a protocol that allows anyone who applied as a Community Advisor, to directly submit their assessments publicly on the Cardano blockchain (therefore removing the reliance on IdeaScale for submission and data collection) and for anyone who is eligible to be a Veteran Community Advisor to submit their reviews on the Cardano blockchain (not relying on Google Docs anymore for this stage).

The draft protocol, once defined, will be opened for comment and adjustment. We will also implement it as a Proof Of Concept (not ready for general use, but ready to be tested and audited by the community) through integration into the ca-tool ( https://cardanocataly.st/ca-tool/#/ ) and the vca-tool ( https://cardanocataly.st/vca-tool/#/ ) and utilizing the GameChanger Wallet ( https://gamechanger.finance/ ), allowing users to submit data directly on-chain using their browser.

The definition of the protocol is extremely important because it will allow different implementations for different wallets and tools; allowing anyone to participate in the process because they can interact directly with the blockchain. The development of the protocol will prepare the fundamental foundations that can lead to the moving of all the stages of the Project Catalyst process onto the blockchain (e.g. proposal submission, definition of challenges, etc.)

Example process for CAs (a very similar approach would also be used for vCA)

• The user opens the an assessment tool such as the AIM CA-tool and prepares the assessments for their chosen proposals
• The assessments are saved locally in the browser
• The user submits their assessments:
  The tool will:
  - Parse local data and organize it according to the defined protocol
  - Generate transaction metadata containing the assessments will be prepared
  - Redirect the user to the Gamechanger Wallet to submit the transaction with his data (0.17 ADA required per submission - assessments can be compiled together)
  - Data are stored immutably and forever on chain
  - Can be anonymous (if you keep user keeps their wallet anonymous)
• Data for the vCA process (or final ratings in the vCA use case) can be aggregated directly querying the blockchain

Outcome: complete transparency - censorship resistance - data not alterable/tamperable - open to anyone to participate - open to anyone to build tools and integrations

Focus problems for the research

• Handle the anonymity of CAs
• Maintain the assessments not readable (encrypted) until a certain date
• Storage for larger amount of data (e.g. the vCA reviews or large number of assessments)
• Management of changes in assessments (within allowed periods)

Roadmap

• February 2022 - Preliminary researchLiterature review of current research about some key problems (time-lock encryption, db-like storage onchain, etc.)
• March - April 2022 - Protocol definitionBased on the preliminary research, choices will be made on the solutions and technologies to be applied and the actual protocol will be defined.
  The research and the choices made will be documented and open-source.
• May - June 2022 - PoC ImplementationThe defined protocol will be implemented in the current Community Tools as a PoC and it could be tested from the community during Fund 9 - in a parallel non-official way.

Deliverables

• Research and Protocol proposal
• PoC implementation (ca/vca-tool + GameChanger wallet)

Team

Lucio Baglione: Developer with 9+ years of experience (mainly focused on web/mobile. Languages and frameworks: PHP, Javascript, Typescript, Python, Ruby - Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Wordpress, Angular.js, Vue.js, Node.js). CA and vCA, co-creator of the Community Tools (Proposer/CA/vCA/Voter Tools) <https://github.com/Project-Catalyst/> <https://github.com/coire1> .

Victor Corcino: Veteran Community Advisor (vCA), Proposal Mentor, CAs' elected representative for the 1st Catalyst Circle, co-creator of the Community Tools (Proposer/CA/vCA/Voter Tools), Catalyst Swarm core member, engineering/science/developer and 'hands-on' teaching background.

Phil: Veteran Community Advisor (vCA), co-creator of the Community Tools (Proposer/CA/vCA/Voter Tools and Community Landing page), front end UI/UX designer and finance and business background.

Roberto C. Morano: DevOps advocate with over 15 years of experience. Ex-Emurgo DevOps Lead. Gimbalabs Co-Founder. Dandelion Founder and Operator - <https://github.com/gimbalabs>

Adriano Fiorenza: Entrepreneur & Senior Full Stack Developer with 10+ years of experience in software development and IOT. Founder and the main Lead Developer behind GameChanger Wallet and Project Catapult (https://gamechanger.finance/), participated in 1st gen Plutus Pioneer Program and is currently contributing as Core Team member at https://gimbalabs.com - https://ar.linkedin.com/in/adriano-fiorenza

Budget breakdown

• 1 - 3 months research ~ 160 hours: $6400
• PoC implementation ~50 hours: $2000Avg hourly rate for Research and Development: 40$/hour
• Project Management / Administration: $1000
• Results Presentation: $500

KPIs

• Number of reviews of the research
• Number of CAs involved in the testing stage
• Number of vCA involved in the testing stage
• First successful test writing to the blockchain