Please describe your proposed solution.
How you perceive the problem you are solving
Agricultural businesses want to prove that they are using carbon-negative farming methods as a differentiator but don’t have reliable solutions available to them.
This proposal is a feasibility study that will set out the pathway to a series of dApps and integrations that will provide this proof for the global agricultural sector.
Your reasons for approaching it in the way that you have
Business leaders prefer to see the commercial benefits of products or solutions that are offered to them. By engaging with business leaders at the very beginning of the development of a blockchain-based business solution we will be more likely to get their active engagement and adoption of Cardano based solutions.
We will achieve this engagement by involving them in the development of the business use-case and the production of a whitepaper that describes the development journey to provide them with reliable solutions that can be integrated into their companies.
Our approach is supported by the engagement of the executive leadership
of two major European agricultural businesses – who will act as sponsors for the programme.
Describe the value that the solution will add
Our proposal is for the development of a ‘use case’ for the development and delivery of a soil sequestration application. The value at this stage of the development pathway is confidence that the proposed tool described in the project report will add value to the different stakeholders in the project.
Overall, for farmers, it will provide value in the form of the carbon credits that are claimed as a result of the proof of the carbon sequestered.
For Cardano, it will show the impact it is having on the climate, using the soil sequestration tool as an example. While it is intangible value, it is of great reputational value.
Describe the scalability of the solution
As an on-chain tool, available on mobile devices, the solution is massively globally scalable.
Describe the sustainability of the solution
Our solution is sustainable because it is a virtual tool that needs no consumption of resources other than the already committed energy resources of the blockchain.
Additionally, it is making a positive contribution to the sustainability of farming practices.
Who your project will engage, or who its stakeholders are
Our project will have multiple stakeholders:
· Business leaders as the project sponsors and eventual product users
· Plutus developers as technical advisors
· Edify team as project facilitators
· Sustainability consultants as advisors
· Global farming communities
The business leaders will come from two large European agricultural businesses that operate across the spectrum of farming activities in the UK, Europe and Australia. These businesses are highly innovative in the agri sector – both leveraging links with Cambridge University, national bodies, and other innovation centres – and already have an understanding of blockchain technology.
How your project will be implemented
The project will be implemented in phases:
Phase 1 – identify the needs of business leaders
- The Edify team will conduct a series of interviews with the executive teams of 2 European agricultural businesses with combined revenues of more than $1bn, using our collective knowledge of blockchain capability, to help the businesses identify how a blockchain solution is the optimum solution to their need for long-term proof of carbon sequestration.
Phase 2 – identify the feasibility of the current blockchain technology and applications to provide the identified solution.
- The Edify team will work with Plutus developers to translate the business need into a technical scope of work, and to test this scope of work against current Plutus capability.
Phase 3 – describe pathway to the development of the technical solution.
- The Edify and developer teams will document the pathway to the delivery of the technical solution and how it will be deployed into the business’ existing business processes.
What you will produce (i.e. your outputs)
The project will produce a whitepaper that describes the Plutus development necessary to deliver the technical solution to the business problem, it’s likely cost of development and its implementation methodology.
What will happen as a result of your work (i.e. your outcomes).
As a result of this project, both agricultural companies will have a much clearer understanding of how Cardano blockchain-based products can deliver the proof of carbon sequestration that will generate revenue through more effective CO2 capture measurement and consequent proof of soil based sequestration and the carbon credits and certificates associated to it.
The Plutus developer team/s will have a clear pathway to the creation of commercial ‘proof of trust’ solutions that can be used in the agricultural sector.
Explain what's unique about your solution, and what value it brings to the Cardano ecosystem.
The Edify team has a client base consisting of forward-thinking business leaders who are already eager to embrace new technologies, but need guidance on why they need blockchain solutions.
Uniquely, our solution will bring together the business, sustainability and developer communities, with the Edify team as translators and facilitators.
The resultant value to Cardano will be its exposure to the business community as a source of value-generating products and solutions.
Explain who will benefit. Does your proposal primarily benefit a) your organization or company, b) the Catalyst community, c) the greater Cardano community or d) a specific community in the wider world? All of these are OK, but it is helpful to explain which you are primarily addressing.
The beneficiaries of the project will be fourfold:
1. The agricultural business leaders, who will have a greater understanding of how to use Cardano based solutions to create value from carbon credits in their companies
2. The global environment, as more farmers embrace soil-based carbon sequestration with blockchain solutions
3. Cardano developers who understand how to build business solutions
4. Edify CoLab who will gain reputation as facilitators of business integrations
Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
The challenge description calls for a thriving ecosystem of dApps, products and integrations that are better alternatives to centralised providers and solutions.
Our proposal addresses this need by providing a development pathway for dApp based products that specifically meet the call for “solutions that help to solve environmental issues”.
This proposal will expose the global agricultural community to the capability of the Cardano blockchain to solve the problems with recording soil-based carbon sequestration, increasing interaction with the Cardano community and platform.
What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Risk – the involvement of business leaders might be challenged by pressing commercial business needs and delay the progress of the project.
- Mitigation – As soon as we have secured funding for the project we will secure multiple appointment times in the business leaders’ calendars to ensure that we have various options for our workshops
Risk – identify key technical partners to assist in describing the gap between capability and delivery of the smart contracts. We will work with technical developers within the Cardano ecosystem.
- Mitigation – Engage with the developer community, e.g. Catalyst Swarm Cardano 4 Climate and Gimbalabs, during the proposal submission phase of Fund 9 to identify appropriate partners
Risk – Describing the solution that delivers the outcomes required by the business use case in terms that will lead to a coherent scope of work for the development phase of the project in the future
- We will partner with developers to learn what technical development needs to occur to technically deliver the solution, and how to describe it in a scope of work