[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.
To launch Wada's Nigeria Hub, we seek to start working closely with universities to create orientation programs that introduce students to the world of Blockchain technology. This proposal will support: one major conference introducing students to Blockchain technology and Cardano, and then follow up events providing more hands on support to onboard developers into the ecosystem, followed by technical training and hackathons.
Some of the specific follow up we will provide post event will be concentrated in the two weeks post conference, and followed by more intensive developer training once we have significant engagement.
Week 1: General introduction and orientation program focusing on how blockchain technology works.
Week 2: Hand-holding into the Cardano ecosystem and Project Catalyst. We will help students to create ideascale logins and provide support on how to become a proposer, community advisor, or simply to vote.
Week 3: Once we have at least 50 students who are keen on learning more, we will launch the more technical training program by introducing them to the Plutus eco-system starting with the foundational language called Haskell.
At the end of this phase of the program, we intend to have at least 30 students who are proficient in Haskell and Plutus programming. We will also be looking for companies that will be interested taking these students as interns and integrate them into the ecosystem.
Regardless of what happens, we will be hosting hackerthons that look to sharpen the skills of the students to take on real world challenges.
[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
Millions of youth in sub saharan Africa aren't left with many options when it comes to relevant education that reflects the current market situation. It is a pity because these universities are supposed to be hubs of spontaneous innovation and has that potential because of the energy that these environments possess.
We can look at the biggest companies today and trace their origins to a dorm room in a university. So this solution will not only provide education for these students but also be a catalyst by creating an enabling environment through hackathons and seminars that inspire them into creating the next major dApps on Cardano.
Through Wada and Project Catalyst funding we have created a Wada Nigeria Hub here on the ground. Through this proposal we will be boosting our hub's capacity and outreach by organizing one large event that will then funnel young developers into Wada's Haskell and Plutus training program and provide continued support via hands-on support from the Nigeria Hub locally.
[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
There is the potential risk that the university bodies going on strike. Unfortunately this is not uncommon here in Nigeria, so our event date will remain flexible to ensure it can be held at a time where students will be on campus. In addition, there is often tension within the government when it comes to blockchain technology.
We plan to mitigate this risk by offering online options for our events through the Wada network as well as in person events. Additionally Wada's broader education and outreach initiatives include partnerships with organisations such as Global Policy House with whom we are working together to promote positive change at a policy level by gearing certain educational and outreach events at policy-makers and government officials.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.
Phase 1: Conference (1 month)
The first month, we will host a conference introducing students to the general principles of the blockchain with Cardano in focus. This will help whet their appetite to want to understand what the blockchain is all about and how they can take advantage of the technology. We have found that students are motivated by popular things and food of course, so we will plan this as a large event (500+ person event) and include food and refreshments.
The conference will hold in the vescinity of the school with keynote speakers from the African Cardano and Wada communities. We are aiming to make a big impact with this event and therefore plan to have keynote speakers who are already doing great work on the ground in Africa to speak in person at our conference to create a highly motivating event.
One event will not be the end. In the weeks following the conference our weekly events will focus on more hands on support to onboard members to the Cardano ecosystem. Additionally, we will offer concrete call to action at the end of our event, inviting students to our Haskell and Plutus training program.
Phase 2: Developer Training (5 months)
Training will commence shortly after the conference and will take place on a weekly basis. We will hold weekly virtual trainings followed up with monthly in-person meetups with the organizers in Nigeria. The Wada Cameroon Hub will also be supporting with the technical training that they are implementing in Cameroon.
Phase 3: Hackathons (3 months)
This phase will launch 3 months into the training program, and we will hold a total of 3 Hackathons, one each month through the end of the project cycle
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.
Budget (6 months): $22,500
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Conference Logistics (space rental, internet, equipment, photo and video live streaming etc): $6,000
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Marketing: $1,000
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Refreshments (Conference and monthly events): $2,000
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Speakers Motivations (travel and logistics): $6,000
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Hackathon Prizes: $3,000
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Management & Coordination: $4,500
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.
Oshomah: Project Lead in Nigeria. Computer science major. Creative director of Afrixx NFT project.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abubakar-abdulwahab-b886414b/
Mubarak Aminu: Developer community lead ABU Zaria. Mathematics major and Software developer.
Wada Cameroon Hub to support with technical training and hackathon implementation and coordination:
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Manfo: Cameroon Team Co-Lead, Senior software architect & developer, 12+ year of experience programming, 3+ years in functional programming paradigm (F#, Haskell, Elm), Multilingual (French, English, Italian, Ngiembo) https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicienfotiomanfo1642a479/
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Nkalla: Senior software architect & developer, 12+ year of experience programming, 3+ years in functional programming paradigm (Haskell), Mathematics teacher (Education Systems Engineering), Multilingual (French, Italian, English, Mbo) https://www.linkedin.com/in/didier-junior-nkalla-ehaw%C3%A9-2a40a463/
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Arcel: Senior Software developer in Closure 7 + years experience, Project manager, Multilingual (French, English, Medumba)
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Megan: Cameroon Team Co-Lead, Central Africa Coordination Lead, Wada core team member (Education and Event Lead), Math & Physics teacher, bilingual (French & English) https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-hess-5b853292/
Wada network of resources
Wada devs & marketing team
[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.
Yes I will. This project's initial launch is for the first 6 months. In this time we will measure how well we convert students who are interested in writing code and the blockchain in general. This will be seeds that will be planted in the community that sprouts as time goes. Learning Haskell alone might take longer than 6 months, depending on the interests of the students involved.
[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?
We will measure the progress of this project for each phase as laid out below:
Phase 1: Conference
- Event registration
- Event Attendance
- Event feedback
Phase 2: Weekly virtual training and monthly training meet-ups
- Virtual training attendance
- In-person monthly attendance
Phase 3: Hackathons
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Event attendance
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Event feedback
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Hackathon scores
[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?
Success for the different phases of events will look like:
Phase 1: Conference
- 500+ attendance
Phase 2: Weekly virtual training and monthly training meet-ups
- 40+ monthly event attendance
Phase 3: Hackathon
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20+ hackathon attendance
[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.
This is my first time proposing to Catalyst, however through Wada, we did receive funding to start the Nigeria Hub through Planting Roots in Africa.
<https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Planting-Roots-in-Africa/366767-48088>
In addition, we will be working closely with the Wada Cameroon hub to continue their work on the following successful proposals from fund 7, and they will be guiding us on the education and events.
<https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Spread-Plutus-through-Africa/381332-48088>
<https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Clubs+hackathons-=-Cardano-adoption/381318-48088>
