Cardano ecosystem int. development jam linked to UNDP event

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Alex Macbeth

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

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ada

100000

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

8

[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)

In-person and virtual event linking Blockchain4Good Summit with the annual event of a major UN agency, opening more doors & businesses for Cardano startups and linking them to the humanitarian sector

[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 content and access to most events, will be available to all, free of charge, inc:

Recordings of panels and key events

Free, open to access to virtual space for all 

Booth reserved for ANY Cardano ecosystem startups that want to advertise

[METADATA] Horizons

Connected Community

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

The problem: 

• Cardano impact-driven startups need a long-term platform to act as a gateway for them to pilot business solutions with major international aid agencies. The Blockchain4Good Summit is currently too sporadic/one-off to sustain creation of long-term partnerships. Longer-term partnerships are formed during in-person events allowing to overcome teething issues and help establish larger business contracts 
• UN agencies, Development Banks, and major iNGOS that manage billions of dollars need Cardano startups to help achieve SDGs with efficient, decentralised and transparent operating solutions 
• Current blockchain conferences like EBC, Paris Blockchain Week and WebSummit, as well as other major tech forums, don’t bring together two key sectors made for each other: international development agencies and blockchain startups/foundations
• Private wealth foundations manage billions of dollars. New millennial trustees and managers want more transparent tools and solutions to manage their funds and achieve impact. Cardano has the solutions 

The solution: 

Blockchain4Good virtual summit bridges the divide: it’s where human-centred tech empowers sustainable development. Having early funding for this third edition will allow the organisers to bring a greater number of INGOs, Development Banks, private wealth foundations and philanthropic foundations seeking 21st century blockchain solutions to their problems to the physical and virtual event. This will create a much larger marketplace for Cardano ecosystem startups looking to pilot and test their solutions with new clients that have had access to 170+ regulators and markets for decades.

• New! 1st in-person summit! In partnership with UN agency and a [New Partner] 
• New! 12+ panels
• New! SDG Hackathon
• New! StartUp Pitch contest
• New! UN SDG Appeal
• New! SDG NFT Gallery
• New! Project Catalyst room
• New! Cardano Solutions Room (startups split by key sectors). Housing/Real Estate Financing (Landanio, Empowa etc) Jobs and Learning (Socious, Andamio etc) Environment and Verification (DigiFarm & Encryptus)
• + development of all activities from B4G 1.0 and B4G 2.0
• New! BlockchAIn4Good 2.0: A continuation of this event dedicated to the intersection of blockchain and AI and their work and potential impact on the development and humanitarian sectors.

See also:

Project Catalyst Proposal for Blockchain4Good 1.0 (F12: Summit, Oct 2024)

Project Catalyst Proposal for Blockchain4Good 2.0 (F13, Summit, April 2025)

Blockchain4Good webpage

Blockchain4Good Linkedin page

Blockchain4Good on X

Review of Blockchain4Good summit so far

We got overwhelming interest in 1.0 from 8+ Cardano-based projects, 4 UN agencies and lots of other people. (x7 major registered Cardano impact-driven startups for inaugural Blockchain4Good at time of writing) as well as international organisations (innovation representatives from four major UN agencies [UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF and FAO] are booked as speakers for the Blockchain4Good Summit 1.0, held in October 2024, and we are planning the second edition with new features for April 2025. 

Additional partners for Blockchai4Good 1.0 Virtual Summit include: BC100+, Blockchain For Good Alliance, VFairs, Sustainable ADA, ImpactPlus

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

• While Blockchain4Good 2.0 (April 2025) will continue to promote impact-driven startups, including Empowa, Landano, Socious, DigiFarm, Andamio, Palmyra/Zengate etc, among others, Blockchain4Good 3.0 will guarantee exposure and participation to 12 impact-driven Cardano companies
• New! Project Catalyst will have their own room to showcase their work and MO to potential agencies interested in applying for grants: Cardano as a solution to major aid agencies, development banks, regulators and innovators 
• In-person event will bring decision makers in both the humanitarian sector and the Cardano ecosystem into the same room
• Virtual hybrid event allows for wide global participation in the event (for those who can't travel)
• New hackathon, startup competition and Cardano Solutions room will strengthen the profile of the whole ecosystem in this sector 
• Connect startups and solution providers in housing, jobs, green energy, DeFI, health and many other sectors with UN agencies and INGOs where solutions can be piloted for international development. Chance to claim a large stake in the disruption of a multi-billion dollar philanthropy and international development spheres
• Chance for Cardano lobbyists to directly influence regulators, government agencies, and policy 
• Blockchain4Good 3.0 aims to scale to include X10 major Cardano startups as core summit participants 
• X4-6 key major virtual panels
• Blockchain4Good 3.0 will broaden the remit and seek to develop new fields of partnership, Inc: Academic, Media, Tech, NFT, Food etc
• Vision: develop several editions throughout 2025 in order to capture momentum4impact in next major bull run. Keep Cardano at the heart of the journey

[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?

• Experience: Proven track record of successfully planning the event and completing project milestones under F12 for Blockchain4Good 1.0
• Team: brings together major international development agency (UNDP), blockchain developers and event management partners (Innofund.io & Positive Blockchain), Programming partners (Impact Plus) and Marketing partners (Sustainable ADA, PC, UNDP).
• Partnerships: In the brief life of the Blockchain4Good project period so far, partnerships have already been developed with BC100, Blockchain for Good Alliance and showcasing the potential scalability of the event 
• Tech/user experience: vFairs is the world's leading virtual events platform and provides a seamless experience for virtual and in-person hybrid events (at this scale and compared with competitors) 
• PM: Team are known to PC and have successfully already previously on boarded and passed milestones

Blockchain4Good webpage

Blockchain4Good Linkedin page

Blockchain4Good on X

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

Title: Confirmation of list of speakers, event programme and dates, preliminary sponsors and partners and event experience 

ETD: Month 1, March 2025

Outputs:

Includes the following key activities:

• Confirm panel titles and themes, as well as full list of speakers
• Confirm tech team and tech partners
• Finalise list of sponsors and content partners 
• Design framework for Hackathon and StartUp pitch
• Outline vision for Play-2-Earn Room 
• Develop marketing and engagement plan
• Finalise event dates
• Confirm physical event partner 

Acceptance criteria:

• The technical and business implementation report is finalised and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review. The report includes the following content:
• Aforementioned evidence in presented in a brief report, to be published on Notion, to the Cardano Community
• First flyer is presented for the event
• List of: speakers, sponsors, key programming events and participants 
• Outline of Hackathon programme, schedule and partners 

Evidence of Milestone completion:

• Programme and plan meet Community’s expectations
• Extensive evidence of completion of Milestone 1 activities in report (speaker profiles, full programme, extensive marketing plan etc)

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 1, March 2025

Title: Conference design & planning of physical event

Outputs:

1. A milestone summary report on Notion
2. Outline plan for physical event 
3. Designs for the virtual event space venue, as either a video and/or illustrated PDF, with a description of how it serves the event specifically (description of specific breakout rooms, digital goodie bags etc)
4. A flyer and registration link for the Hackathon
5. A flyer and registration link for the StartUp contest
6. Full PDF of programme
7. A PDF or video outline of the virtual event space functionality, i.e. what can be done on each booth, room and stage. Includes a tech management plan for the event. 
8. A brief overview of the hybrid physical event
9. Outline hackathon and startup competition programme and any partnerships
10. A final list of confirmed speakers, partners, and any sponsors for Blockchain4Good 3.0: a flyer (PDF and/or JPEG) for the event; a Google Doc with a breakdown of each panel, its speakers, key themes and any sponsors. A link to this doc will also be provided in the overall milestone report on Notion. 
11. Establishment of running enrollment list of participants 
12. An outline of a marketing plan and engagement plan, with attached deliverables and deadlines. Includes newsletter announcements, social media posts and a blog post as outputs. 
13. Publish the event registration page for participants

Acceptance criteria:

1. Milestone report is published on Notion
2. Tailored virtual event space overview is outlined in PDF or Video
3. Some specific functionality of the tailored event space is outlined in PDF or video. The milestone report outlines the tech management plan
4. A list of confirmed partners, sponsors and participants is made available in an open Google Doc as part of the milestone report. A flyer for the event as a JPEG is also provided. Participants will be asked to fill out a Google Form but these will NOT be made public to protect people’s data
5. Innofund, Impact Plus, Positive Blockchain and UNDP all show evidence of promoting the event: newsletters, social media and blog posts
6. Event registration page works and is accessible to people
7. A brief report of the physical event planning

Evidence of Milestone completion:

1. Link to milestone report on Notion
2. Milestone report contains link to a video and/or an illustrated PDF outlining the virtual event space
3. Milestone report contains link to a video/and or an illustrated PDF outlining the functionality, and the tech management plan, for the event
4. Milestone report contains Google Doc link with all relevant info outlined above
5. All four organisations have posted on at least one social media channel of theirs about the event and have shared the event flyer. A blog post and newsletter are in pre-production
6. Link to web registration page

Expected time of delivery: Month 3, May 2025

Title: Event Production

Outputs:

1. A milestone report 
2. Blockchain4Good 3.0 is produced, promoted and implemented. Speakers attend Blockchain4MoreGood: 3.0 and a live event is held
3. Cardano Community and others attend Blockchain4MoreGood: 3.0
4. New partnerships are explored 

Acceptance criteria:

1. Milestone report is published on Notion and/or Project Catalyst evaluation platform
2. Blockchain4Good+: 2.0 is produced on a specific data, with content and access made freely available to everyone via a dedicated webpage, where everyone can also register to participate. Videos and press material of panels and speakers, as well as side events
3. Cardano Community is notified of the event in advance and is able to easily access and attend all events. Innofund and partners lobby Cardano Foundation, Cardano Summit organisers and Project Catalyst to promote event and encourage registration from participants 
4. A report on Notion ‘speed dating’ partnerships between Web3 and humanitarian stakeholders at the event

Evidence of milestone completion:

1. A milestone report is published, link made available
2. Press coverage, videos, press packs and digital promotional material is curated on a dedicated web page, during and after the event via ours and our partners social media channels. Webpage is made available publicly. Livestream links are made readily available before, during and after the event 
3. Innofund and partners can show a report outlining communications with Cardano Foundation, Cardano Summit organisers and Project Catalyst to promote event and encourage registration from participants 
4. Link to said report on Notion

Expected time of delivery: Month 6, August 2025

Title: Final milestone reporting

Month 7, September 2025

Outputs:

Final video

Final report

Acceptance criteria:

Both reports are made available to Project Catalyst

Evidence of milestone completion:

Project Catalyst is provided with a link

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

Alex Macbeth, Creative Director of Summit

Gabriel von Roda, Head of Investor Relations, HR and Finance of Summit

Sandeep Bajjuri, Project Manager of Summit

Milica Dimitrijevic, Head of Development Programming and Partnerships of Summit

Teodor Petricevic, Head of Institutional Outreach + UNDP lead

Razali Samsudin, Head of Marketing of Summit

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

Milestone 1: ADA52,500

vFairs 20,000: Rental of world’s leading virtual space (1st tranche)

Core team: 15,000 (2,500 x 6 members)

Partnership building: 5000 (travel and conference attendances)

Marketing: 6000 (social media, print, and design work)

Consultancy fees and admin: 6500 (company mainteance, admin fees, project consultants)

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milestone 2: ADA23000

vFairs 6,000: Rental of world’s leading virtual space (2nd tranche)

Consultancy fees and admin: 1000 (company admin fees & project consultants)

Team: 12000 (2000 x 6 members)

Marketing: 4000 (social media, print, and design work)

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milestone 3: ADA 9500

Consultancy fees and admin: 1500 (company admin fees & project consultants)

Team: 6000 (1000 x 6 members)

Marketing: 2000 (social media, print, and design work)

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Milestone: ADA15000

Consultancy fees and admin: 1750

Close out marketing: 1250 (media production)

Team: 12000 (2000 x 6 members)

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

The value proposition consists of several factors: 

• Connects core Cardano ecosystem players to the heart of problems they can fix in a multi-billion dollar industry.
• Project Catalyst support ensures no-cost participation of Cardano startups at this partnership-building event 
• Showcases some of the best in the Cardano ecosystem to key potential clients, investors and influencers in the sector
• PR and marketing exposure for the Cardano ecosystem
• Project Catalyst funding ensures the event remains Cardano-centric and continues to be a gateway for the ecosystem to new business 
• Huge value to the Cardano ecosystem in bringing major players shaping SDG policy and implementation work into the same ‘room’ under a Cardano banner. 
• Hosting the event in a hybrid virtual and physical space reduces the costs and is low carbon 
• Reinforces social impact and SDG-driven value-add of Cardano 
• The project will bring urgent and real world use case applications and business challenges that can be solved on the Cardano blockchain, also engaging the Cardano Community and Ecosystem.