Online Training Platform for Developers and Freelancers on Cardano

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Ha Nguyen

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

cooperation@proskills39.com

Additional applicants

Buck Nguyen

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

7

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

Yes

[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?

No

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

Not yet at the moment, as per the published Privacy Policy of our platforms with the relevant stakeholders: freelancers, Job seekers, and other partners. We cannot disclose the entire source code.

However, In the future, we will consider public partially the codes under the auditing process from 3rd party auditors.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

Education

[METADATA] SDG rating

The Proposal is related to SDG #4 and SDG #8

• SDG #4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4 
• SDG #8 Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal8

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

◆Reasons for approaching 

1. The skills gap in the blockchain industry: According to a recent digital and IT skills report of DevSkiller based on 209,249 coding tests sent through the DevSkiller platform to candidates from 54 countries, blockchain demand increased by 552 % in 2022. However, there is a massive gap in the required skillsets, especially for the Cardano Developers. 1.1 Understand the basics of blockchain technology, including 1.2 Understanding Haskell and 1.3 Learning Plutus (• Cardano Toolchain & Binaries setup – Developer Tools. Transaction structure – Transaction Metadata – Native Tokens. Plutus Build Tools & various Forms. Plutus smart contracts – Plutus PAF, PAB, DApp connector. KEVM – Milkomeda Sidechain – Glow – IELE – K Framework)

1. Why do we choose MOCC as the suitable approach? 

Since the year of MOOC (Massive open online course) in 2012 with top universities and MOOC providers such as Coursera, Udacity and Udemy, and edX, the trend remains positive on a global adoption scale in the next decade. The CARG growth is more than 30% and remained the top learning platform recently with new reliable players such as Linkedin with LSM providers such as Cornerstone OnDemand and SAP SuccessFactors.

With the Covid impact, MOOCs keep growing faster with more innovative and interactive teaching methods.

Report: MOOCs Market by Type, Subjects, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027 (technavio) 

1. The unfinished rate in the Catalyst proposers: Project owners in Cardano, Catalyst, and Blockchain have difficulty finding talent that fits within the budget. That affects the progress and completion of the project. One of the critical factors is the lack of skilled resources. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lpCnMQbHwfNbo0bq0g8OFwRopguLom4p/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113162306998911458102&rtpof=true&sd=true

Our Solution

Set up a professional freelancer training platform.

On this platform, we will connect freelancers and trainers.

Freelancers will learn the knowledge and skills necessary to become experts in the field they want to join.

To create quality talent, and contribute to the development of Cardano, Catalyst, in this early phase, we will focus on attracting trainers and experts in the field of blockchain, Cardano, Catalyst and providing The course helps to improve skills in this area.

◆Project end-users aim

• Freelancer
• People who want to learn knowledge to become professional experts.
• Experienced experts and lecturers who want to participate in talent training.

◆The uniqueness of this solution

• The unique feature of this solution is that.
• Focus on training freelancers to provide talent for areas where human resources are scarce, such as blockchain, web3.
• Freelancer's achievements will be recorded and saved as a basis for promotion on the platform connecting Freelancer with project owners - ProSkills39 (details in proposal XXX)
• The courses on our platform will be compiled according to the criteria of concise, easy-to-understand, lots of practice. This helps students feel excited about learning and become passionate about their careers.

*Below is an example video for a lesson on our platform

https://youtu.be/V9lt3PB4n0Y

• The course quality will be assessed by the students who have studied and made public for future students to refer to—an utterly objective quality assessment based on community experience.

◆Project demonstrates outcomes and why this is important to Cardano

• Creating high-quality human resources that contribute to the growth of Cardano.
• Attract new freelancers/developers from other tech and blockchain industries to Cardano through training platform promotions.
• New developers are more interested in learning and coding thanks to our easy-to-understand and hands-on lessons.
• Help increase the completion rate of projects funded by Catalyst and increase the number of golive products on Cardano.

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

◆This Proposal targets the goal of the Challenge

Our proposal is aimed at attracting new developers to the Cardano ecosystem.

And help developers equip with the proper knowledge and skills to support building projects in the Cardano ecosystem.

This is in line with the goal of the Challenge: Developer Ecosystem - The Evolution:

• How do we developers attract from outside of our current community to participate in Catalyst?

 • What do developers want, and how do they get it from the Cardano dev ecosystem?

 • What would make it a developer motivated to grind through the docs

And code, no matter how hard it is to create a dApp?

◆The value our proposal brings to the Cardano ecosystem

1. Create new human resources for Cardano Ecosystem
2. Create a knowledge center for developers and freelancers

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

Quantitative/qualitative indicators to measure project success

1. Number of website visits: 10000
2. The number of registered learners: 1000 
3. (in which several learned freelancers provide Cardano essential, Blockchain-related services: 200 learners.)
4. Number of certified trainers: 100 
5. Number of completed learners: 100 (In which the number of contracts related to Catalyst, Cardano: 20 contracts).
6. Number of Telegram community members: Over 1000 members

Impact on Cardano's productivity and growth in the short term

1. Cardano projects grow more robust thanks to the help of many highly specialized developers and freelancers.
2. Create more places to gather knowledge in Cardano as a library
3. Increase the number of transactions using ADA, and increase the funding for Cardano

Impact on Cardano's productivity and growth in the long term

1. The Cardano ecosystem grows stronger.
2. The developer community in Cardano is strong.
3. Increasing quality human resources, building a sustainable Cardano Ecosystem

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

We will report monthly progress on the official Catalyst channels. The community can track progress through monthly reports published on Catalyst's public channels.

Additionally, Catalyst and the community can check progress through the link https://proskills39academy.com/ (beta launch)

◆Plan to disseminate project outputs

• All course videos built on the platform in the first stage will be shared widely on our community channels, especially Cardano and Catalyst Vietnam-related communities.
• We also have a marketing plan, affiliate marketing in communities, and blockchain and crypto-related groups to attract students and faculty to our platform.

◆How to share output/results when project completion

Once the project has completed the KPI,

We will share the output with Catalyst and the community by:

1. Submit the Project Close Out report to Catalyst

2. Present my project in the Town Hall Meeting.

3. Announcement on our community channels.

◆Directions for using the results obtained from the project for further research and development activities

We will also survey students and lecturers when using the platform to develop a plan to improve and develop more appropriate features, enhancing the user experience.

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

Ability and experience suitable to implement the project:

Our team possesses the necessary skills and expertise to implement this project effectively. We have amassed considerable experience in the following areas:

1. Business administration, including the setup, management, and operation of platforms.
2. Proficiency in programming technology products, platforms, and banking payment systems.
3. Financial management and cash flow management expertise.
4. In-depth knowledge in the field of Blockchain, with a particular focus on Cardano.

Financial management process:

1. Our team consists of a seasoned Financial Manager with 20 years of experience in finance and banking
2. Accountant with over ten years of expertise in revenue, expenditure management, financial reporting, and business operations.

Transparent Workflow:

1. The Financial Manager is responsible for budget planning, allocation, and management.
2. The Accountant handles revenue and expenditure operations and maintains payment vouchers.
3. The Financial Manager and Accountant present the budget management sheet, receipts, and expenditures to the Project Manager every month.

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

◆Main goal of the project (KPI)

1. Number of website visits: 10000
2. The number of registered learners: 1000
3. (in which several learned freelancers provide Cardano essential, Blockchain-related services: 200 learners.)
4. Number of certified trainers: 100 
5. Number of completed learners: 100
6. (In which the number of contracts related to Catalyst, Cardano: 20 contracts).
7. Number of Telegram community members: Over 1000 members

◆How to verify the goal has been achieved

1. We plan to distribute vouchers to project owners sponsored by Catalyst
2. Our platform's dashboard will provide a comprehensive view of transaction data, orders, and payment history
3. The count of wallets can be ascertained by tracking the number of users connecting them through our platform

[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.

Please see the table below per our detailed plan for 7 months with four key milestones.

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

Statement of Milestones (SOM) built in advance: With the assistance of Cardano Ambassador, Mr. Yuta, we present the SOM in advance:

• to align with Catalyst Fund 10's guidelines for plan transparency and clarity,
• to facilitate easy reviewing for Community Reviewers (CR),
• to illustrate that our completion percentage consistently surpasses the budget percentage required for each milestone

SOM Link: https://docs.projectcatalyst.io/catalyst-basics/how-to-submit-a-proposal/fund10-milestone-based-funding-guidelines

The 1st milestone (month 1)

• Platform feature description table
• Figma interface
• Marketing blueprint

The 2nd milestone: (Month 2-3)

• Product: Feature release note sheet
• Marketing: Campaign marketing material 1: post, video, banner

The 3rd milestone (Months 4-5)

• Product: Feature release note sheet
• Marketing: Marketing campaign results learning from Campaign 1
• Campaign marketing material 2: post, video, banner

The 4th milestone (Months 6-7)

• Product: Feature release note sheet & Test table
• Marketing campaign results
• User opinion survey results
• Improvement plan

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

Please see the budget in the below table.

Budgeting basis

1. Exchange rate: ADAUSD rate taken at the time of budget calculation, date 23/6/2023 (*)

2. Programming cost: With the desire to have the opportunity to contribute to supporting Cardano, Catalyst to grow stronger, we will strive to work with a salary 40%-50% lower than the average salary in the market.

3. Personnel expenses: Our team will strive to complete the project with a remuneration of 40%-50% lower than the average salary in our country.

(*) We take the exchange rate: 0.2520, 23/6/2023, which is within the Proposal Writing period form 21st June to 17th July.

This already considers the risk of price fluctuation of ADA for the duration of project delivery.

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

VALUE FOR MONEY- SALARY BENCHMARKING

The cost of the project is also considered low compared to the cost of the seniority of the engineers in the team. 

1. Salary benchmarking in the local country: We keep 30-40% savings on personnel cost for the team member's hourly rate: Salary Benchmarking
2. Our budget Allocation mainly focused on Product development (30%), commercial (~20%), and 20% on initial course content creation.
3. Consider the team allocation at different levels of the project org chart
4. Cardano Ecosystem is an emerging industry, and we need to have the proper induction and training for the new members.

VALUE FOR THE CARDANO ECOSYSTEM:

The cost of the ProSkills39 project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem through several factors:

1.  Alignment with Strategic Goals: The project's objectives and deliverables align with the strategic goals of the Cardano ecosystem and challenge setting
2. Impactful Deliverables: The project aims to deliver tangible outcomes that benefit the Cardano ecosystem, including solving the unemployment of freelancers and connecting talents for Catalyst-funded proposers.
3.  Measurement of Progress and Success: The project team has established transparent success criteria and performance indicators for each milestone. These metrics will be used to track progress, evaluate the project's success, and update the Catalyst Community. We walk the talk with the Catalyst Core Values.

[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