A study on Network Nations

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Antoine Cathalau (Garance)

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

antoine.cathalau@gmail.com

Additional applicants

Claire Pichelin (Hypathie)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

5

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

DAO

[METADATA] SDG rating

Network Nations can help all the SDG goals. 

This would also augment the chances of diplomatic recognition for such organizations, therefore we will include dedicated chapters on this question in the study.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

DAOs can be the first step of a democratic process that will lead to the next Big Revolution: the Network Nations. New use, social and technological innovations are at stake.

Introducing a new concept 

One of the most interesting perspectives for the infrastructure of DAOs is the possibility of becoming diplomatic entities acting as layer 2 of the nation states, grouping individuals by affinity and culture rather than by territory.

We call these structures network nations.

Blockchains can provide them with the necessary tools to manage their commons, their economy, their identity.They can help to complete the states on the points where they are failing, outdated or not effective.

In some cases, blockchains themselves can even become network nations.

Our study will focus on the development prospects for such entities.

A community study

Finally addressing the elephant in the room, we will develop a study on this emergent phenomenon, intrinsically tied to blockchains. We will engage with members of the Cardano community and beyond to explore this question together.

Reshaping the world 

Layer2 nations won’t be looking to replace nation states. They will be inspiring them to get better, complementing them and enriching the identity of their citizens. In the long term they have the capacity to reshape entirely the way geopolitical forces interact with each other.

The potential evolution of DAOs

As the movement of DAOs will mature and grow, it will be building the foundations for larger and even more fundamental changes. Network nations may become the most important outcome for DAOs methods, tools and infrastructures.

Researches on a similar subject in the Ethereum community

Several endeavors on related subjects are currently underway in the Ethereum community. Vitalik Buterin co-organised an event in Montenegro where a group of searchers were able to discuss what they call in this essay coordi-nations, which is a concept very close to what we propose here with network nations:

https://jessykate.medium.com/coordi-nations-a-new-institutional-structure-for-global-cooperation-3ef38d6e2cfa

Another notable initiative is Nation3, a “nation state on the internet” created by the founders of the DAO platform Aragon :

https://www.nation3.org/

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

Network nations are an important topic for Cardano. A large part of the community sees Cardano itself as an internet nation already, so there is a need to explore further this question. 

As a ROI, the potential of Network nations is massive. Exploring their possibilities can unlock important consequences for the usage of Cardano and the DAO space as a whole.

One important utility of the research will be to provide possible future possibilities of development for the DAO infrastructures on Cardano.

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

Short term benefits :

-Expand the comprehension of network nations in the Cardano community and beyond

-Develop a « think tank » on the subject 

-Highlights paths for the future of DAO tools 

Long term benefits :

-Participation in the creation of a diversity of network nations 

-Development of a collaborative relationship between states and network nations

-Creation of a holistic network nation 

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

-A paper on the subject (30 pages approximately) published as an NFT on the Cardano Blockchain

-A research and knowledge base

-Video and text Interviews of key community members and personalities 

-Suggestions for the future steps in order to develop network nations 

-The application of the research directly on Dyana, a holistic network nation in development

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

-We both have master degrees and experience in academic research

-We are deeply committed on the subject, and are already exploring the concept of a holistic network nation with dyana.org 

-We are known members of the Cardano community

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Our goal is to imagine and describe realization paths for a new type of institutions that are beyond nation-states. We aim at engaging the Cardano community on this question, collect a state of the art documentation of what is being done, define and inspire perspectives. We want this research to be a trigger for future community endeavors towards the emergence of network nations.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] 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.

Month 1

Gathering the corpus of sources, data and insights. 

Month 2

Involving the community : producing multiple interviews and interactions

Month 3

The map : organizing the content and creation of the writing plan 

Month 4

The first draft of the study

Month 5

The finalized study 

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Month 1

an online corpus of research on network nations accessible on dyana.org

Month 2

Written and video interviews published on you tube and dyana.org

Month 3

The map : organizing the content and creation of the writing plan 

Written document accessible via google doc

Month 4

The first draft of the study as a PDF

Month 5

the finalized study, organizing and analyzing all previously collected content in a pdf document (30 to 40 pages long)

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Budget breakdown

Project management 20hx30$ :

600 $

Administration 10hx30$ :

300 $

Content production

Research and documentation : 100hx30$

3000 $

Structure of the study : 30hx30$

900 $

First draft 120hx30$

3600 $

Final draft 50hx30$

1500 $

Corrections by a native english speaker from the community : 30hx30$

900 $

Community

 

Interviews and community engagement : 40hx30$

1200 $

Communication and diffusion 20hx30$

600 $

TOTAL

12600 $

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The average salary for academic research in France is 35€/h, so the cost of our proposal here is well below average.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept