Please describe your proposed solution.

Improving a System that is constantly changing, requires active analysis. Multiple perspectives are needed for the community to inform themselves in a reliable manner. General and shared knowledge of the ecosystem is needed in order to make collective decisions. To ensure interoperability between different solutions and interfaces in the ecosystem architectures need to be designed keeping this in mind.

This proposal aims to contribute to the overall Catalyst improvements by providing reports on specific elements of the Catalyst system. This will be done backed by academic literature, data science and past active participation. The reports are intended to be used as source of insights and to highlight possible directions of improvement.

The work will organized in iterations of 2 months, each iteration will have it's own focus area or case study. This will include an analysis of the current system, performing a data analysis study, creating modular data pipeline designs and advice on integration and AI use. All of these will be combined in a report.

The reports will combine a multitude of perspectives from potential use of AI, Computational Social Choice and Game Theory, Data Engineering and development of Interoperable Frameworks

By contributing in this manner as an individual the proposal aims to add to this area by adding an additional, independent perspective. The output of the work is intended to be usable by other projects in piecemeal snippets and are not intended as singular solutions.

target audience: active participants, developers of catalyst improvements, toolmakers

To ensure the proposal has an impact there will be focus on targeted and personal engagement with a selection of active willing participants.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The challenge calls for research and development of Catalyst as a system. This proposal aims to focus on the research side and provide direct insights for ongoing discussions in the active process of improving the system. Additionally the output will be created with possible future developments in mind and can therefor be used as input for other proposals in the same challenge in future rounds.

To improve a system requires a holistic view which is difficult to achieve for any group without a central guiding authority. This challenge aims to open up the development and improvements of Catalyst itself to the whole community, moving forward towards Voltaire. In order for us to move in that direction collectively and in a decentralized manner, requires a modular approach. By providing research and proof of concepts of possible data oriented solutions, keeping interoperability within the ecosystem in mind, this proposal adds to the general knowledge of those working on system improvements.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The focus will be on qualitative assessment of impact the output had on those within the community that were engaged actively. This will be in the form of a short interview and will be included in a deliverable in the final milestone.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Outputs of the work will be made publicly available through a public git repository. Progress of the work will be tracked and planned using a Miro board.

(https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVM16s3NA=/?share_link_id=944028882884)

Additionally a number of community members will be directly approached with outputs of the proposal and invited to a discussion. For this purpose and for organizing the work, a small digital workspace will be set up in the form of a discord channel supported by a Miro board.

The milestones and deliverables are spread out evenly across the duration of the proposal, so progress can be tracked throughout.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Previous experience similar style projects in a professional setting for external clients (large educational institutions) on how to incorporate data driven design principles in their system design and architecture.

Previous engagement with Catalyst ensures sufficient knowledge of the domain and provides useful experiences in working effectively within this community.

Broad knowledge of software development from all perspectives with a strong emphasis on data and AI, combined with a lifetime experience of participation in open and collaborative initiatives. Knowledge on Computational Social Choice, bridging the gap between the collaborative experiment and digital side.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

main goal:

Reach a small number of actively engaged members involved in improving the system itself and provide them with timely and valuable insights that affects their work and offers new alternative perspectives or answers open ended questions they had.

note:

Though of course it is desirable to reach a larger number from a broader audience the choice was made to focus on direct engagement as this is more aligned with the style and skillset of the proposer and the results are more directly measurable in a qualitative way.

sub goals:

Deliver modular and reusable artifacts in the form of code, data and design patterns.

Provide modular technical architecture designs for data pipelines in Catalyst and align them with existing projects and infrastructure.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

The proposal is divided into 3 milestones; 2 case studies and 1 finalization stage

Each stage will take 2 months

Each milestone has a budget of 15.000 ada, the budget is therefor spread out equally across the proposal duration

Case study 1 (2 months, delivery october)

Case study 2 (2 months, delivery december)

Meta study (2 months, delivery februari)

Case study

month 1

final choice of topic

gather data and relevant information

perform preliminary analysis

create shareable artifact

reach out to potential candidates for engagement

month 2

define scope of final report

perform in depth analysis

create visualizations/develop proof of concept

write case study

facilitate a discussion

Meta study

month 1

release reusable artifacts, data & code

draft final report

assess impact of the proposal

month 2

reflect on process

write self assessment

finalize proposal

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Case studies:

Intermediary article or post:

A short article containing some of the preliminary research or a visualization with a brief post to provide context.

engagement with the proposal, sparking ideas

Final report:

A full report concluding the case study containing an introduction, analysis and insights

Provide key insights into the topic of the Case study and a starting point for discussions

Discussion

Share the report with engaged individuals and facilitate a Q&A session with a follow up discussion

Provide clarification, answer questions and kick-start follow up conversations

Meta study:

reusable artifacts:

Collect, document and share any reusable and useful artifacts like images, code, data, etc.

provide usable snippets for future proposals and developments

self assessment:

provide an assessment of the process and the format of the proposal based on self reflection. Include a qualitative assessment of the impact of the proposal among those who participated in the discussions

Provide lessons learned and increase auditability

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

The budget for the proposal is used as monthly payments to the proposer for the work that is being done. There are no external cost associated with this proposal that are outside the regular operational expenses of the proposer and therefor fall within this monthly budget.

indicative monthly hour budget

12h reporting & administration

48h research & writing

20h outreach & engagement

80 in total (20h weekly, part time)

To determine the monthly rate 2 factors were combined:

• minimum project requirement (15k ada budget, 2 months)
• ADA value in dollars compared to normal wages

For the ADA value a 100 day moving average is used (~0.35$, similar to the price at time of writing).

15000 * .35 = 5250$

As this is an individual part time commitment, this seems as a fair wage for 2 months

An additional 5000 ADA is budgeted for community contributions to the project and donations to collaborating projects that did not receive funding themselves.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Sosha (SofiH)

Main proposer and responsible for execution and delivery of the proposal.

Experience prior to Catalyst:

Basic academic background in the fields of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence (Bsc. Artificial Intelligence, UvA). 7 years professional experience with software development and applied AI in the domains of Education (EdTech) & Health (e-Mental Health). (https://www.linkedin.com sosha-happel-68139ab6)

Catalyst experience:

Joined during fund 3, active in fund 4 through 8. Participated and focused on system improvements through the Challenge Setting. Performed data analysis of previous fund rounds. Worked with and assisted with several ongoing projects (Gimbalabs, Dandelion)

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

At 50k the cost is ~3x the minimum budget for a proposal, it can be considered a small proposal.

At the given hour commitment this would equate to 93.75 ada per hour. The hourly rate clients paid for such work in prior professional engagements ranged between 100 and 120$. This would make the proposal good value for cost below 1 $ per ada and high value at the current evaluation.

The proposal would add value by contributing to the openly accessible knowledge in the ecosystem.