Andamio Governance Smart Contracts + Gimbalabs PBL Governance

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Andamio + Gimbalabs Teams

[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)

4

[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)

Build a set of smart contracts that grant governance and decision-making power to people with a record of maintaining public resources. Publish a playbook so that anyone can use this governance model.

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

1. All documentation and processes will be fully open source
2. All Gimbalabs course material and code examples are open source
3. Some Andamio Smart Contracts will not be open sourced right away

[METADATA] Horizons

Governance

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

This is a collaborative proposal between Andamio and Gimbalabs. Andamio will build a new set of smart contracts that connect on-chain credentials to decision-making privileges.

To make sure that Andamio development meets the needs of real users, Gimbalabs will run an experiment with a new group of "PBL Course Maintainers". Maintainers are tasked with updating the Plutus Project-Based Learning course that Gimbalabs has been publishing since 2021, and will earn credentials for contributing to course maintenance. Maintainers will join the Andamio team in a product-development lifecycle, and Andamio will deliver a new product.

A side benefit of this proposal is that the Plutus Project-Based Learning course will be updated for Cardano’s Conway Era. A published case study and playbook will provide ideas to the rest of the Cardano Community, so that other teams can use the governance features at the heart of this proposal.

Background: About Andamio

The purpose of Andamio is to support people to learn so that they can contribute to work they find meaningful. Learning features are now live at andamio.io, and Contribution features are rolling out in Q4 2024. With this project, Andamio will implement a set of governance contracts that enable anyone to go on a journey from learning to governance:

Background: About Plutus Project-Based Learning (PPBL)

The first version of PPBL was launched by Gimbalabs in the fall of 2021 with a small group of developers who have gone on to do exciting things. New iterations of the course were released in early-2022 and late-2022, on Canvas LMS. Then, in 2023 the fourth iteration of PPBL was released on a prototype of our own learning platform, which soon became Andamio.

Plutus PBL 2024 is the 5th iteration of the course, and was launched on Andamio in March 2024.

This project is designed to drive Plutus PBL into a new era of community stewardship. The course will be an example of a community-governed public resource.

Phase 1: Solving Immediate Problems

This proposal builds upon our experience by focusing on two immediate problems:

1. The current iteration of PPBL is out of date. This year’s version of the course was originally launched in March 2024, and now, following the Chang hard-fork in September 2024, some lessons and code examples need to be updated.
2. People need invitations and supportive opportunities to start contributing. When people learn, they need some initial opportunities to contribute so that they can build relationships and reputation.

This proposal will address both problems at once, by giving PPBL 2024 students the opportunity to contribute by making updates the course.

For this phase of the project to be successful, PPBL 2024 will be updated for the Conway era, and students will be earning on-chain credentials by making their first contributions.

Phase 2: Building Andamio Governance Smart Contracts

In this phase of the project, we will focus on development of Andamio governance features. We will complete a full product development cycle that starts with user research and results in on-chain and off-chain Andamio governance features. The work we do in Phase 1 will inform conceptual and feature development work in this phase of the project.

Andamio is already being used to issue credentials when people learn and contribute. With this project, we will build new features in Andamio that provide rails for maintainers to become key decision-makers, because we believe that good decisions are made by people with hands-on experience. New smart contracts will be written that enable people with a track-record of contribution to participate in project governance.

Gimbalabs and Andamio will collaborate through a complete product life-cycle to develop these new concepts into new products - collecting user feedback from Maintainers while building on-chain, off-chain, and front-end product features defined thru the process. Andamio will build the software. Gimbalabs will build the social technology and provide a playbook for using the tech. The work of updating PPBL 2024 (Phase 1) will be used as a case study in the playbook.

Phase 3: Writing a Playbook

By working on this specific project, we will define systems and processes for keeping other developer courses up to date. Then, we will write documentation in the form of a playbook that other teams and organizations can use.

It’s always exciting to build something new - like an application, a company, or in our case, a course about Cardano development. If we want something that is new today to have a lasting impact, it must be well-maintained. This applies to software, cities, companies, educational materials, and decentralized, global communities like Cardano. As Cardano continues to scale, this playbook will be a useful tool for demonstrating what blockchain can do to new circles of stakeholders.

How We Will Prove Our Project's Success

1. Create a 2024 PPBL Maintainers Cohort: Any student who completes the PPBL course will earn a credential to be a PPBL Maintainer. This cohort will be the first of its kind, just like the original authors of PPBL in 2021. Their experience will inform a governance model for other teams to use.
2. Identify + Respond to Issues: PPBL Maintainers will audit the course and create a backlog of issues to be resolved. Maintainers will update the course, earning rewards from a treasury funded by this proposal, along with credentials for their contributions.
3. Product Definition and Delivery: Maintainers will collaborate with Andamio to define new product features, and the Andamio team will deliver new governance features.
4. Documentation and Playbook: Gimbalabs will publish a playbook outlining the case study so other teams can build upon. We will iterate upon the model immediately by applying it to the maintenance of other Gimbalabs PBL courses. The playbook will public and freely available, so that any other team can do the same.

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

The Cardano ecosystem thrives on innovation, but just as important is the value we place on maintaining what we’ve already built. This proposal introduces a model that rewards the maintenance and improvement of valuable resources, starting with the Plutus PBL course, but looking toward the wider world.

People who maintain public resources will not only be recognized for their efforts but will also gain credentials and a voice in decision-making. Ultimately, our goal is to explore how maintenance can serve as a form of governance, and to continue extending the reach of Cardano to new groups of stakeholders.

If successful, our emphasis on maintenance will create the conditions for further innovation. Here’s how we’ll make an impact:

• Technical maintenance: Keeping learning resources, like developer courses, up to date so new developers have what they need to grow.
• Building relationships: Connecting new community members, not just to educational resources, but to each other, so they can find collaborators and build together.
• Access to opportunities: Using the Andamio network, built on Cardano, to issue credentials that help people find and join projects, and collaborate on new ideas.

Immediate and Long-Term Value for Cardano

• Immediate-term: Updated developer resources that make it easier to learn and build.
• Medium-term: An active, maintainer-focused governance model that other teams can adopt.
• Long-term: A case study that people outside of the current Web3 ecosystem can understand. The world is full of city managers, community leaders, municipal workers, and people in government who know that systems might be improved, but don't know about the ground-breaking governance features of Cardano.

Sharing Outputs and Opportunities

• Access to learning and contributing to projects.
• A playbook that other teams can use to adopt this model.
• Credentials earned through maintenance that also serve as governance credentials, thanks to technical features of Andamio.

Good Governance: What you know AND who you know

An old adage says, "it's not what you know, it's who you know". We believe that good governance comes from what you know and who you know. We want Cardano to be an ecosystem where people are knowledgeable enough to make good decisions, and people know each other well enough to have constructive debates and build great things together.

By focusing on commons maintenance, our goal is to create spaces where people can gain knowledge and build relationships at the same time, and to provide technology that allows local trust to scale to a global community.

From our experience at Gimbalabs, we know two things:

1. Course maintenance is good, honest work: keeping lessons current, updating documentation, and improving examples in an evolving dev ecosystem - these are all essential tasks that require time, knowledge, and energy. Without this work, a course quickly becomes irrelevant.
2. When people do maintenance work, they develop valuable insights and expertise. We believe that when people have insights and expertise, they are better prepared to make governance decisions.

Putting these two points together, we believe that maintenance is a key part of governance. When governance is done well, shared resources are well-maintained. When common resources are well-maintained, new innovations are more likely to thrive.

The goal of this proposal is to create a hands-on model for governance, that emphasizes maintenance of shared resources, built to enable innovation for the long term.

[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?

Andamio Development Capabilities

Andamio has already delivered an breakthrough set of smart contracts, off-chain infrastructure and user interfaces that allow people to start learning and earning credentials. Features for contribution and treasury management have been tested, and will be integrated with Andamio in Q4 2024.

With this proposal, the Andamio development team turns its attention to governance contracts that integrate with the platform and allow systems to evolve from gated management to open governance. The Andamio team has a proven track record of delivering innovative Cardano-based applications, and this work fits seamlessly into its product development plans.

Why this case study at Gimbalabs?

Gimbalabs has a four-year history of creating collaborative spaces in the Cardano ecosystem. To learn more about our work, please browse the Gimbalabs YouTube channel.

Product design is always easier when real users with real needs are involved. Having a specific, timely, urgent project makes this a great case study - and everyone involved will have valuable insights in the research process. Maintenance of Plutus PBL is specific, timely, and urgent, and we think it's a great opportunity to learn a lot and to create a bridge between maintainers and product developers.

Ongoing Work at Gimbalabs

Building and iterating on the Plutus PBL course has given Gimbalabs a chance to test educational models, and to practice building impactful projects and spaces where people can learn together. We now have systems for how people can collaborate to write course content, and we host weekly Live Coding spaces where people can get together and learn.

We are already applying what we’ve learned by building a series of new courses:

• Mesh PBL (https://www.andamio.io/course/mesh)
• Aiken PBL (https://www.andamio.io/course/aiken-pbl-2024)
• Cardano Go PBL (https://www.andamio.io/course/gpbl2024)
• Marlowe PBL (https://www.andamio.io/course/marlowe-2025)

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

Title: Launch Maintainers Cohort + Identify Issues

Duration: 1 month

Objective: Prepare for the start of the proposals by clarifying participants and issues to be resolved in this proposal

Milestone Outputs:

1. Maintainers complete PPBL 2024 Course
2. Maintainers identify course issues and add to GitHub repos
3. Gimbalabs facilitates public weekly sessions to organize and document this work

Acceptance Criteria:

1. GitHub Issue logs are updated with a list of current issues
2. Meetings are recorded and meeting notes are published

Evidence of Completion:

1. Share a list of PPBL Maintainers who have committed to this project
2. Share a record of Andamio credentials earned by Maintainers for completing PPBL 2024
3. Share link to GitHub Issues for each PPBL 2024 repository
4. Share a link to meeting recordings and meeting notes

Title: Course Updates + Product Design Research

Duration: 1 month

Objective: Conduct product design research with Maintainers as they resolve the issues from Milestone 1 and build contribution credentials.

Milestone Outputs:

1. Maintainers make updates to course repos on Github and make changes to course content on Andamio
2. Gimbalabs team facilitates credential issuance
3. Andamio product team and PPBL Maintainers collaborate on product design research for Andamio governance contracts

Acceptance Criteria:

1. Update logs for each PPBL 2024 course repository
2. Updated PPBL 2024 Course with change log
3. On-chain record of contribution credentials
4. Andamio product roadmap includes description of new governance features

Evidence of Completion:

1. Share a link to pull request logs for each PPBL course repository
2. Share a link to updated PPBL 2024 course and a public change log
3. Share a record of Andamio contribution credentials earned by maintainers of PPBL 2024
4. Share a link to updated Andamio roadmap and a list of new governance features

Title: Implement Governance Features

Duration: 2 months

Objective: Enable Maintainers to be Facilitators (elaborate scope of governance). Deliver a set of on-chain features that connecting contribution/maintenance to decision-making and facilitation power

Milestone Outputs:

1. Product definition that incorporates feedback and feature ideas from Maintainer’s Cohort
2. Develop on-chain contracts connecting maintenance contributions to facilitator access

Acceptance Criteria:

1. Andamio platform release that incorporates governance features
2. Examples of transactions where new governance features were tested on Cardano Preprod
3. Documentation of new features
4. Blog post explaining new features

Evidence of Completion:

1. Share a link to new features at andamio.io
2. Share a transaction log showing how governance features work on-chain
3. Share a link to Andamio documentation of new governance features
4. Share a link to a blog post that provides a summary of new features and explains how they work with simple examples

Title: Publish a Playbook & Closeout

Objective: Communicate a model for community governance of shared/common resources

Milestone Outputs:

• Summarize what we have learned in this project to prepare an open source playbook
• Prepare closeout report
• Host follow-up workshops and open-spaces

Acceptance Criteria:

1. First edition of playbook is published
2. Closeout report and closeout video
3. Announcement of workshops where Cardano community members can learn more about the Playbook and Andamio governance

Evidence of Completion:

• Share a link to the public Notion with a draft of the playbook
• Share a public link to the closeout report
• Share a registration link for workshops to follow up from this proposal

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

James Dunseith, is a Teacher, Coach, Smart Contract Developer and Facilitator with extensive experience in creating engaging learning experiences and facilitating problem-solving. In the classroom and at ed-tech startups, James led the adoption of student-centered and project-based learning models. James is a co-founder of Gimbalabs, where he writes educational content and facilitates open governance of the community. James leveraged his expertise in learning design and community engagement for this project.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-dunseith-0135651/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamesdunseith

GitHub: https://github.com/workshop-maybe 

Sebastian Pabon, Educator, Facilitator. Project Manager, Educator and Facilitator at Gimbalabs. Co-founder at Andamio. Consultant at Emurgo Academy, European Business University of Luxembourg.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seb-pabon/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SebastianPabonB

Nelson Kshetrimayum is a passionate Cardano developer who transitioned from a background in physics to focusing on blockchain technology. He began his Cardano development journey with Gimbalabs, contributing to prototype a Cardano native Learning Management System. With a solid foundation in both physics and computer science, Nelson brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to his work, particularly in the realm of improving science and education through technology. He is dedicated to advancing the open-source software movement and contributing to the growth of Cardano as a leading blockchain. Driven by a desire to learn new concepts, build innovative software, and explore distributed and fractal community governance, he aims to create meaningful change in society through technology.

LinkedIn: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nelson_ksh

Github: https://github.com/nelsonksh

M. Ali Modiri – Security & Smart Contract Specialist  

LinkedIn | Twitter | GitHub

Ali brings a diverse skill set, merging his background in mechatronics, cybersecurity, and blockchain. A former malware analyst and penetration tester, he excels in identifying and mitigating digital threats. Ali’s programming expertise spans from low-level languages like Assembly and C to high-level languages such as Golang and JavaScript. As a specialist in Plutus smart contract development, Ali is an active contributor to the Cardano community, notably as a member of the Cardano Certification Group and author of CIP 96. His focus is on advancing blockchain security and helping humanity through technological innovation.

Adrian Hütter Smart Contract Developer is a career changer in the field of civil engineering. He taught himself programming, which now helps him leverage the rapidly changing Cardano smart contract platform. He began his Cardano journey with the first cohort of the Plutus Pioneer Program and shortly after discovered Gimbalabs, where he has been a member ever since. Adrian specializes in Plutus smart contracts and is always looking for new ways to use them. He strongly believes in open source and the power of small communities with the right tools.

Github: https://github.com/adrian1-dot

Roberto Mayen-Hess is a Business and Innovation Manager Roberto is a versatile project manager with expertise in tech and blockchain. He excels in bridging the gap between technical teams and client needs, delivering innovative solutions, and managing complex projects.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-mayen-hess/

Yoram Ben Zvi is a Senior Advisor and Business Models Lead with over 20 years of experience in strategy, partnerships, and investor relations within the technology industry. He has a strong focus on combining impact and business and has worked with an NGO focused on sustainable business models across agriculture supply chains. Yoram has been very active on Cardano and Catalyst for over three years supporting the ecosystem growth and onboarding web 2 companies to Cardano. He plays a crucial role in coordinating ecosystem and business model development.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoram-ben-zvi-446836/

Nori Nishigaya, is a Senior Advisor and Software Development Expert Nori is is a co-founder the Andamio and ODIN (Open Decentralized Innovation Network). He is also the founder of the Salmon Nation Decentralised Alliance (SANADA) and co-founder of Bridge Builders. He organizes meetups and events as a Cardano Ambassador, and is a serially funded proposer. Nori brings over 30 years of experience in software development, agile methodologies, leadership in managing teams, and founding and running technology startups. His passion is discovering governance and organizational best practices for radically decentralized and self-managed communities through experimentation and hands-on practice.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishigaya/ 

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

View detailed budget on Google Docs

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

1. Product Development
2. Systems Development
3. Give people space to lead