SIDAN - DRep Governance Tooling powered by Mesh

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

SIDAN Lab

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[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] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Develop a dashboard and Discord bot for DReps, SPOs, or other collectives to manage their decision-making processes on Cardano Governance Actions

[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] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

All materials would be on (an) open source Github repo(s) with Apache-2.0 license.

[METADATA] Horizons

Governance

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Information is scattered everywhere. Without dedicated governance tools, there are no channels for DRep to collect thorough social sentiment and information, which may result in making fatal voting decisions. To solve this, we will build an open-source tool, powered by Mesh, that collects community opinion, allowing DRep to reference and vote. The tools will include:

DRep Dashboard

• Display details of on-chain proposals such as proposal title, name of proposer, deadline of voting, voting decision, and number of votes of each decision
• Allow DRep to cast their votes and submit their votes on-chain
• Allow DRep to publish the voting rationale under the proposal

Discord Bot 

• Organize and coordinate token-gated access and participation in on-chain Governance Actions via Discord threads.
• At a Governance Actions category on the Discord server, submitted on-chain proposals at Cardano Governance automatically trigger the creation of a new thread within the category
• At the newly opened thread, the bot will display the Proposal title, submitter, submission deadline, and the number of votes for each decision casted so far (For, against, abstain).

A member can verify their wallet via the Discord server, similar to the Hazelnet built by Nils, after verification the user can access specific channels on the Discord Server. All members of Discord can chat and leave their comments in the discord thread. Screenshot below are the examples from KusDAO.

All members of Discord can chat and leave their comments in the discord thread. The tool allows DRep to view all important information and vote accordingly while in the meantime building a strong governance engagement.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

All-in-one-place Tooling

By providing a public dashboard with community feedback, the tools lower information cost and operation costs of DRep, allowing DRep to spend more time on research and analysis to draw the voting decision.

Powered by Mesh and Open Source

The tools are powered by Mesh, making it easier to develop and expand the toolsets. All material will be open sourced for the community to further collaborate on the tools maintenance and development.

Effective Gov Tooling

Cardano Governance is in full swing, and its quality is highly relying on the quality of tools which are available. Our solution ideally creates an easy to use solution for the wide Cardano Community on Discord, allowing even non-tech communities to engage effectively at Cardano Governance.

Enhanced Community Participation

The Discord bot will engage the community directly, allowing members to voice their opinions on proposals and influence DRep decisions, fostering a more collaborative environment.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Trust and Accountability

SIDAN Lab is dedicated to advancing the Cardano ecosystem through active contributions to open-source projects. Our team plays a key role in developing and maintaining projects such as Vodka, Whisky, and MeshJS, ensuring tools are accessible and adaptable for the community. Collaborating with leading projects like Andamio and Maestro, we are deeply committed to fostering transparency, education, and community-driven innovation in blockchain development.

Approach Validation

Our contributions to Vodka and Whisky, used across Cardano, validate our approach to building reliable, community-oriented tools. These projects demonstrate our commitment to creating robust and scalable open-source solutions.

Technical Approach Feasibility Research

SIDAN Lab’s technical feasibility is grounded in its open-source ethos, with all major projects being publicly available for review, testing, and collaboration. This ensures continuous improvement and security, backed by transparency and public audits.

Open Source Project Contribution:

https://github.com/sidan-lab/vodka

https://github.com/sidan-lab/whisky

https://github.com/MeshJS/mesh

https://x.com/HinsonSIDAN/status/1829091343186178293

https://x.com/AndamioPlatform/status/1827010443346399423

https://x.com/GoMaestroOrg/status/1770853383559106806

Apart from open source contribution, we organise educational workshops and networking events below:

Cardano Summit 2024 - Cardano Community Events Organiser

https://x.com/Cardano_CF/status/1830996737093431760

Workshop:

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1832435052892057756

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1843283766162415690

https://x.com/HinsonSIDAN/status/1835544062465884523

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1834428644158320887

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1833882298711945280

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1829148308163686807

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1839140102163018208

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1762664453911216621

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1778647348010508759

Community meetup:

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1803831962878251360

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1777377206274249038

https://x.com/cwpaulm/status/1786026712880304437

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1829148308163686807

https://x.com/SIDANWhatever/status/1768592384185811205

Builder meetup:

https://x.com/HinsonSIDAN/status/1838258467423035643

https://x.com/jinglescode/status/1835974464879972526

Interviews:

https://x.com/astroboysoup/status/1753419416275124324

https://x.com/astroboysoup/status/1802673542485712951

https://x.com/cwpaulm/status/1788962110656971173

https://x.com/dapp_central/status/1754504114321436829

https://x.com/_MrHunt_/status/1777370848673902929

https://x.com/_MrHunt_/status/1783875170718925187/photo/1

https://x.com/_MrHunt_/status/1788228931591540959

IdeaFest:

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1808817394514866510

AMA:

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1810361746797801919

https://x.com/SociousDAO/status/1808305281694327019

https://x.com/monsterblockhk/status/1787733450528530752

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: Preparation and Organization Setup (1 Month)

Objective: Establish a solid foundation for the project by setting up the necessary infrastructure, assembling the team, and defining project management practices.

Activities:

• Set up administrative frameworks
• Confirm core team members
• Establish project management tools

Acceptance Criteria:

• An administrative organization established and operational
• Public announcement on core team members
• Project management tools and systems set up

Milestone 2: Dashboard Fetching Onchain Proposals (1 month)

Objective: To develop a dashboard for DRep to manage the thought process and workflow before casting vote and assist casting votes.

Activities:

• Design the DRep proposal management system and dashboard
• Develop the DRep proposal management system and dashboard

Acceptance Criteria & Evidence:

• A fully-ready dashboard deployed in a frontend that could support DRep browsing onchain proposals, putting down notes and casting vote with rationale recorded.
• Source code provided by public Github link

Milestone 3: Discord Bots Supporting Community Vote on Preference (1 month)

Objective: To develop a discord bot to serve onchain proposal to the managed community, assisting in collecting community opinion on proposal for DRep consideration

Activities:

• Design and develop the discord bot
• Deploy the discord bot on the community

Acceptance Criteria & Evidence:

• A fully-ready discord bot deployed in the respected community, assisting in collecting community opinion on proposal for DRep consideration.
• The discord bot also supporting easy delegation to DRep cert of the community host
• Source code provided by public Github link

Milestone 4: Enhanced the DRep Dashboard & Discord Bot (1 month)

Objective: To enhance the DRep dashboard with community preferences collected from the discord bot. Connect the final voting decision back to the discord channel through the discord bot.

Activities:

• Enhance the DRep dashboard with the capability of visualizing community support rate for different proposals as collected by the discord bot
• Enhance the discord bot by notifying the discord channel through discord bot on the voting action happened in the dashboard

Acceptance Criteria & Evidence:

• Enhance DRep dashboard deployed in a website
• Enhance Discord bot deployed in the respected community
• Source code provided by public Github link

Final Milestone: Documentation and Closeout Report (1 month)

Objective: To wrap the proposal delivery and provide guidance on others whoever want to deploy the whole set of development to its respected community

Activities:

• Provide documentation on everything developed, to assist other developers in deploying everything on their community
• Prepare the closeout report

Acceptance Criteria & Evidence:

• Documentation served at the public Github repository with link provided
• Publicly accessible closeout report 

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

SIDAN Lab

A Hong Kong based technical solution provider, specializing in Cardano development. SIDAN Lab builds open-source toolings for the Cardano community, and operates the SIDAN stake pool.

• F12 Team Introduction Video: https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1806306004902277397
• The team is assembled of mixed skills and Interdisciplinary experts.
• SIDAN Lab would provide technical support, local network, and execution.
• DRep ID: drep1vkg4qhqt6pyzmtxpvvtjkueak4d7pydsmxz5lwllr53nwezunhg
• DRep Github: https://github.com/sidan-lab/DRep
• Intersect Enterprise Founding Member 

Hinson Wong - Cardano Software Engineer

• Co-founder of DeltaDeFi - https://x.com/deltadefi
• Co-founder of SIDAN Lab - https://x.com/sidan_lab
• Team member of Gimbalabs, driving Hong Kong community
• Key contributor to MeshJS, a Cardano SDK for DApp development
• Ex-Citi, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hinsonwong/
• Github: https://github.com/hinsonsidan
• Twitter: https://x.com/hinsonsidan

Tsz Wai - Cardano Software Engineer

• Software Engineer of SIDAN Lab - https://x.com/sidan_lab
• Key contributor to MeshJS, a Cardano SDK for DApp development
• Github: https://github.com/twwu123

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1: Preparation and Organization Setup

Activities:

• ADA 20,000 - Set up administrative frameworks
• ADA 10,000 - Confirm core team members
• ADA 10,000 - Establish project management tools

Total budget: ADA 40,000

Milestone 2: Dashboard Fetching Onchain Proposals

Activities:

• ADA 20,000 - Design the DRep proposal management system and dashboard
• ADA 20,000 - Develop the DRep proposal management system and dashboard

Total budget: ADA 40,000

Milestone 3: Discord Bots Supporting Community Vote on Preference

Activities:

• ADA 20,000 - Design and develop the discord bot
• ADA 20,000 - Deploy the discord bot on the community

Total budget: ADA 40,000

Milestone 4: Enhanced the DRep Dashboard & Discord Bot

Activities:

• ADA 20,000 - Enhance the DRep dashboard with the capability of visualizing community support rate for different proposals as collected by the discord bot
• ADA 20,000 - Enhance the discord bot by notifying the discord channel through discord bot on the voting action happened in the dashboard

Total budget: ADA 40,000

Final Milestone: Documentation and Closeout Report

Activities:

• ADA 30,000 - Provide documentation on everything developed, to assist other developers in deploying everything on their community
• ADA 10,000 - Prepare the closeout report

Total budget: ADA 40,000

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

The project offers significant value for the Cardano ecosystem by creating open-source tools that enhance decentralized governance and community engagement at scale. The DRep Dashboard and Discord bot will empower DReps to efficiently manage on-chain proposals and integrate community feedback, ensuring more informed voting. As these tools are open-source, they can be reused, improved, and adapted by the broader community, maximizing the return on investment. The project also promotes transparency and decentralization, aligning with Cardano’s long-term vision, making it a cost-effective contribution.

As on-chain governance is most important characteristic of Cardano blockchain to demonstrate its distinct decentralization. This tool will further foster the culture of decentralization in Cardano ecosystem and motivate deeper community participation, benefitting the entire community.