Please describe your proposed solution.
In an increasingly digital world, Africa is playing catch-up. Data costs on the continent are among the highest globally, and connecting to wi-fi can be problematic. Input Output (IOG) has been active in Africa since 2017, and Cardano has a passionate community across the continent. Nonetheless, there are few dedicated spaces where Africans can gather, share, learn and develop opportunities and possibilities provided by the Cardano ecosystem.
According to Trading Economics, South Africa is the most developed country in Africa, with a GDP of $329.53 billion in 2021. However, South Africa's unemployment rate is currently at an estimated 46.2%. Still, Africa's most industrialized economy could grow by 2% in 2022 and 2.1% in 2023.
Our Solution
A venue where artists & creators, Cardano-curious, newcomers, and Cardano enthusiasts alike from all around the world can gather and:
Receive free education around Cardano, NFTs, and Blockchain, in general, to facilitate onboarding and recruiting artists into the ecosystem, including but not limited to:
- What is an NFT, isn't it just a JPG, and what's the value
- How to open a wallet
- How to Mint an NFT
- How do I get my art on Cardano
- What are Drop Sites
- Which programs do I use, and many more.
The Center will be a space where everyone can:
- Experience original NFT artwork by OG's and emerging artists
- Learn how to create quality NFTs with metadata
- Newcomers and experienced Cardano community members can connect
- Engage in conversation and build a community
The Cardano Community Center will provide access to a curriculum filled with training materials and teaching to go with it. The current information around Cardano and NFTs and the practical aspects for those not technically capable is fragmented. Bringing together the community with experts will facilitate adoption and engagement with Cardano in Africa.
Artists and collectors sometimes want that personal touch. The easiest way to onboard someone is by demonstrating how to use the tools. People are scared of trying out new technology, especially if it involves money.
In Cape Town, there is no such center, nor is there a go-to online resource with enough information to guide anyone to Cardano adoption in a simplified way. It's overwhelming, to say the least. Most importantly, there's nobody you can go to guide you through the process and mentor you, and there's certainly not a location you can go to to get free education and onboarding assistance.
The CCC aims to be the go-to gathering place, showcase space, and training facility with an evolving curriculum designed around onboarding artists and Cardano-curious into the community.
On top of being a permanent training facility, the CCC will develop the space as a dedicated venue for showcasing Cardano art, culture, and technology in Cape Town. This will be the home of Cardano-focused knowledge sharing, education, and social/cultural and economic exchange in Cape Town, including:
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Hosting of events
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Exhibitions
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Advertised training sessions
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Awards
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Other Cardano-related events (meetups)
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Showcasing Cardano NFTs
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OG pieces
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Up-and-coming artist NFTs
You can read more on our dedicated Catalyst Project Proposal page on our website here - <https://www.theartbank.io/catalyst-proposal>
Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
Artists all want to learn how to enter the new digital economy, and they need to learn about the new toolset that helps them digitize their art and market globally. Our solution aims to address the aforementioned challenges.
Digital ecosystems are powerful platforms for social and economic empowerment. However, many digital ecosystems lack the rich benefits of in-person experiences. Curated ‘real-world’ venues can facilitate deeper, richer community interaction, engagement, formalized curriculums and training materials, and value creation.
MIT’s Human Dynamics Lab spent hundreds of hours tracking performance drivers across industries by collecting data from electronic badges that covered everything from tone of voice to body language. The results showed unequivocally that the most valuable communication is done in person and that typically 35 percent of the variation in a given team’s performance was explained by the number of times members actually spoke face-to-face.
To track our success, we will actively measure and display:
- the total number of visitors to CCC
- new wallets registered
- number of NFTs minted by new artists
- completed surveys submitted and the subsequent results, and more on our dedicated project website here - <https://www.theartbank.io/catalyst-proposal>
The business plan, operating manuals, and procedures will be published on open source to facilitate adoption and development in other locations across Africa (and globally).
There’s no reason there can’t be a Cardano Community Center in every major city in Africa, Europe, and every continent, for that matter.
Africa is full of unique talent and doesn’t need to continue on the path of stereotyping everything to match traditional avenues of “African” fundraising or art. Instead, the CCC will facilitate the education process to assist Africans in Africa in conceptualizing and leading innovation in an ecosystem that affords anyone involved the opportunity to level the playing field with freedom of creation. Particularly in the Cardano ecosystem.
What have we already accomplished, and how much has been spent out of pocket before the proposal?
The Art Bank has been promoting Artists and Art from day one and coupling with other initiatives like The Monet Society to create an educational curriculum. We've co-sponsored events including a recent NFT event in Barcelona with The Art Suite. In addition, we’ve worked with artists to apply NFTs to their real-world projects, create novel ideas, and turn them into viable business models.
We're interviewing artists and headlining them on our website as well as promoting, buying, and holding their art, some examples are below:
Charles Machin - Eternal Chaos
Currently, The Art Bank is spending:
$27,500 on Content Creation & Research per month - The Art Bank has a team of 4 full-time staff dedicated to creating educational content, including educational videos, artist interviews, blogs, explainer content, comparison write-ups, and more. This content will form the foundation of the curriculum for the CCC.
What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Risks:
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The main risk lies in the business model not reaching a self-sufficient state and that the level of company investment required to sustain the business model becomes too high. Any startup has this risk regarding physical spaces and retail and unforeseen global circumstances, i.e., Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions.
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Mitigating Risks - employing the best-fit team with the relevant experience to make a startup self-sufficient with a limited budget. Hands-on presence at the CCC’s physical location by the TAB team.
Challenges:
- Securing a suitable location and negotiating a favorable rental agreement for a set period of time with renewal and future purchasing options.
- Interviewing and employing the best-fit candidates for the CCC locally.
To mitigate these challenges, we would:
- Use our real-estate contact in Cape Town to facilitate the process, draw up any contracts and ensure we’re taking the correct steps to secure the most suitable location primed for success.
- The Art Bank will spend time onboarding and training staff from scratch, ideally people already in the Cardano community, but not limited to it.