We are happy to announce the CEP (Community Engagement Program). The purpose of this process is to match developers with immediate and fundamental SAFE Network requirements. This will take the form of a community funded ‘kickstarter’ like process to encourage developers, designer, animators, content creators and others to bid for projects, either as teams or as individuals. MaidSafe has set aside a significant amount of MaidSafeCoin to contribute toward these projects.
Each project will be identified up front as being in demand by creating a topic within the appropriate section of the forum (RFP Ideas). Members of the community will vote and should the idea have sufficient support, it will be included in a poll (in #community:polls). The person who wins the poll will raise a Request For Proposals (RFP). This will be posted in RFPs. Teams or individuals will propose a costed solution (in MAID) for each small proposal. It is anticipated that these will be mostly small (6 weeks or less) projects and will primarily cover end-user applications, videos and animations, designs and content campaigns, but may also include core network components. People answering RFPs will have 2 weeks to do so.
This proposed process is the continuation of an experiment to see if this way of working is both effective and scalable moving forward, only by running/cycling through this way of working will we truly understand its feasibility.
It is important to note that apps made as part of the Community Engagement Program will not be safecoin earning, so they will be effectively paid as core rewards. In this sense, the term ‘core’ refers more toward features/functionality seen to be of high importance to the network, as opposed to applications as found in the most wanted app threads on the forum…etc…
Applicants will be responding to a set of requirements established initially by MaidSafe and adapted to take into account community feedback. The community themselves will of course complement and expand on this process as it becomes more established, incorporating community based proposals. It is the intention that CEP projects will be 50% funded by MaidSafe and 50% by the community. Please note: the donation of MaidSafeCoin in no way represents an investment. It is simply a voluntary contribution made by members of the community towards the direction of the project as a whole. If projects achieve less than 100% of the projected costs, it is up to them if they proceed. MaidSafe will assign a member of the company, whose skills and experience best suit the project, to oversee and act as the main point of contact.
In time, we anticipate that a number of these proposals will run in tandem, however, we intend on only running one project at a time initially as the process is established.
Process
It is suggested that keeping the approach simple and using as few new tools as possible would be advantageous. Using the forum would keep community communication in one place and will ensure maximum participation. The process will work as follows:
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Under the Community category, three new forum categories have been created:
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RFP Ideas
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RFPs (Request for Proposals)
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Proposals
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Potential ideas for the CEP are raised in RFP Ideas. Community members can use their limited amount of votes to vote for ideas they would like to see become RFPs. Every few weeks, the top 5 ideas with the most votes will be included in a poll (in #community:polls). The voting period for the poll will last for 1 week. The person who wins the poll will document their idea and add it into the RFPs category within the forum. Each new RFP will have its own topic where the community and the prospective applicant(s) can ask questions to clarify any points.
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An applicant has 2 weeks (application period) to submit a proposal for their chosen RFP. Proposals will be posted in Proposals and each will have its own topic within which anyone in the community will have the opportunity to question the applicants about any part of their proposal.
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At the end of the application period, a MaidSafeCoin wallet will be set up for each of the RFP applicants. These wallets will be controlled by MaidSafe.
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Both MaidSafe and individual members of the community will vote by sending MAID to the most compelling proposal if it is something they are willing to support. This voting period will last for 1 week.
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The successful applicant will be the one whose wallet has collected the most MAID and the total of all wallets that relate to the new RFP will be transferred into the wallet designated for the successful applicant and paid on completion of the work and/or agreed project milestone.
Proposals
The content of each proposal is up to each applicant. Demonstrating experience, the cost, capability and competency (maybe even a proof of concept) is likely to resonate well with potential supporters. The proposal could take many forms, if you are unsure what works best Kickstarter offers some advice in this area.
The proposal should specify the abstract of the implementation plan and also a time frame for a proof of concept. Importantly, the proposal should include a budget requirement in MaidSafeCoin. Please do NOT include a donation address or similar. MaidSafe will provide the address for each applicant and the winner will receive the funds. For the avoidance of doubt this is a winner takes all system. Payment will only be made upon delivery of the project and after community acceptance via live testing on either the testnet or live network.
Funding
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Like any other community member, MaidSafe may choose not to support any of the proposals. It may also be the case that some projects are 100% funded without MaidSafe’s support. Alternatively, there may be some projects that MaidSafe funds without community backing, if it’s desirable for the core protocols and network.
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All proposals will be costed by each applicant.
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The project payment will be made upon completion by MaidSafe and with any community groups/admins of the CEP.
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Part payments may be also be made in larger projects, once agreed milestones have been met.
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The MaidSafe project lead will verify that the agreed project objectives/milestones have been met on behalf of the community. This will include running proof of concept and/or finished projects on a testnet, or on the main network if it is an application and part of this process will involve a basic security audit on the code.
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If project proposals end up overfunded then it will be expected they also achieve any stretch goals laid out in their proposal. We also anticipate a faster more focussed delivery in this case.
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Just to be clear, MaidSafe are not soliciting private approaches for MAID funding, proposals should only be sent in response to an RFP (Request for Proposals).
Notes
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Features or fixes that integrate directly (e.g. static or dynamic linking) with or are part of the core libraries must adopt the dual license and the applicant must agree to the contributor agreement.
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Any app that uses the bindings (Node.js, Java, C# or Web API) is free to choose any acceptable open source or Creative Commons license.
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Project support may be withdrawn by the community, and/or MaidSafe, if a project misses agreed milestones, falls into a period of inactivity, or something outside the project’s control makes successful delivery untenable.
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