Merit Based Reputation Engine Model for Cardano Ecosystem : Enhancing Trust and Accountability

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Menilik Eshetu

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

Individual

[GENERAL] Co-proposers and additional applicants

The rest of Reputation Enginee Developers

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

6

[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)

Provide a groundbreaking solution Merit Based Reputation Engine for catalyst That aims to address the current trust and accountability challenges by evaluating all activity & enhancing the credibility

[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

The project Some parts will be open source under the MIT or Apache 2.0 License. All code, documentation, and associated elements will be publicly accessible, allowing the community to copy, inspect, and contribute to the development of the project for Cardano integration. The chosen license ensures transparency, collaboration, and adherence to open source principles.

• APIs for querying will be documented 
• Formulas and models
• Project-planning/research documentations

What won’t be open-sourced:

• Backend and internal logic

[METADATA] Horizons

Governance

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

The Reputation Engine Model will revolutionize the way users interact with IdeaScale and Lidonation. By analyzing historical data and user activity, the model will assign trust scores to participants based on their past contributions, reviews, and behavior within the platforms and also for the new users. These scores will serve as indicators of trustworthiness, capability, and feasibility, enabling more informed decision-making by platform reviewers, voters, administrators, funders and anyone on the system.

Even the users can indicate their Reputation score in their proposal to show their capability. 

Key Features:

• Trust Score Calculation: Utilizing learning algorithms, the model will calculate trust scores for users, considering factors such as proposal success rates, reviewer feedback, and community engagements and more.
• Predictive Analytics(optional): Leveraging historical data, the model will employ predictive analytics to forecast the likelihood of proposal success, identifying high-potential projects and mitigating risks associated with low-quality submissions.
• Real-time Monitoring: The Reputation Engine will continuously monitor user activity, updating trust scores dynamically to reflect changes in behavior and performance all the time.
• Transparency and Accountability: By providing transparent metrics and insights into user reputation, the model will promote accountability and integrity within the Cardano community, fostering a culture of trust and collaboration.

Proposed Solution

To address these challenges, our proposed solution involves a comprehensive research approaches:

The first and foremost is Research: 

Utilizing data from previous funding rounds up to Fund 8.9,10,11, we will conduct a thorough analysis. Leveraging Catalyst Testnet, Ideascale Platform, Milestone Reporting, and Community Reviewing data, we aim to:

• Establish correlations between reviews, voting decisions, and proposal outcomes.
• Develop a knowledge graph and perform a graph/network analysis to identify quality reviewers and voters.

The current and latest initall dataset of lates fund 11 can be found ‘https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R-wytihG4fKR_E1hvSh8CWbYajo8dLcOezogxJ_7OSU/edit#gid=0’ and also 

on the platform looks like this: 

Upon successful implementation of the Proof of Concept, we will engage the Cardano community to gather feedback and refine the reputation system further. Community engagement is vital to ensure the system's alignment with the needs and preferences of Catalyst stakeholders. This phase will involve:

• Soliciting Feedback: Actively seeking input from community members, including proposers, reviewers, voters, and platform administrators, to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement in the reputation system.
• Iterative Refinement: Using community feedback as a guide, iteratively refine the reputation system to enhance its effectiveness, usability, and acceptance within the Catalyst ecosystem.

Blockchain Integration:

As part of our long-term vision, we aim to integrate the reputation system with the blockchain in future phases. Blockchain integration offers several advantages, including enhanced security, transparency, and immutability. The integration will involve:

• Smart Contract Development: Designing and implementing smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain to manage reputation data securely and efficiently.
• On-Chain Reputation Calculation: Leveraging blockchain technology to perform reputation calculations in a decentralized and tamper-proof manner, ensuring the integrity and reliability of the reputation system.

Over all we aim to establish a robust Merit Based reputation system that enhances decision-making, fosters community trust, and drives the success of high-quality proposals within Catalyst. Let's work together to build a more transparent, inclusive, and effective governance framework for Cardano's future growth and development.

Importance of Reputation Engine

What are the goals of the reputation tool?

• Building Trust and Credibility
• Ensuring Quality Control
• Facilitating Informed Decision-Making
• Promoting Community Engagement
• Mitigating Risks and Disputes
• Fostering Feedback Loops

More on The Benefits of Decentralized Reputation Systems can be found Here on Linkedin

Therefore implementing a reputation system is not just a feature enhancement; it's a strategic investment in building a robust, trustworthy, and sustainable community ecosystem. By incorporating a reputation system into ideaScale and Lidonation platforms, we can ensure that they remain vibrant, inclusive, and effective tools for driving innovation and collaboration within the Cardano ecosystem.

Evaluations of Fund 10 show:

• Less than 15% of registered wallets voted
• Only 15% of voters voted for 1 proposal
• Only 22% of voters voted for more than 25 proposals (that is only 2,8% of total registered wallets)

Source: https://twitter.com/LidoNation/status/1709916495550030191

Evaluations of Fund 11 Cardano Catalyst Announcement show found HERE:

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

The implementation of the Merit Based Reputation Engine will have a profound impact on the Cardano ecosystem:

• Improved Proposal Quality: By incentivizing trustworthy behavior and discouraging spam and manipulation, the Engine will elevate the quality of proposals submitted to IdeaScale and Lidonation, increasing the likelihood of funding for deserving projects.
• Enhanced Community Trust: Transparent and data-driven trust scores will enhance community trust in the platforms, fostering greater participation and engagement among users.
• Efficient Resource Allocation: Funders and platform users will benefit from more accurate assessments of proposal feasibility and credibility, leading to more efficient resource allocation and decision-making.
• Sustainable Growth: A more reliable and accountable ecosystem will attract new users, investors, and partners, driving sustainable growth and innovation within the Cardano community.

Here are qualitative and quantitative measurements for the Impact:

Qualitative Measurement:

• 1. Proposal Quality Improvement:
• Feedback Analysis: Gather feedback from community members, reviewers, and funders on the clarity, relevance, and feasibility of proposals.
• User Satisfaction: Assess user satisfaction through surveys regarding the overall quality enhancement of proposals.
• Community Trust Enhancement:
• Perception Survey: Measure changes in community trust and confidence in the IdeaScale and Lidonation platforms.
• Engagement Metrics: Track indicators of increased participation and engagement, such as the number of active users and proposal submissions.
• Resource Allocation Efficiency:
• Fund Utilization Rate: Assess the percentage of funds allocated to proposals demonstrating high trust scores and feasibility predictions.
• Time-to-Funding: Measure the average time taken to approve and fund proposals, indicating improved efficiency in resource allocation.

Quantitative Measurement:

• Proposal Success Rate:
• Number of Funded Proposals: Count the total number of proposals funded from IdeaScale and Lidonation.
• Success Rate Trend: Track changes in the percentage of funded proposals over time.
• Trust Score Distribution:
• Average Trust Score: Calculate the mean trust score assigned to users participating in the platforms.
• Distribution Analysis: Analyze the spread of trust scores across different user groups to identify trends.
• User Engagement Metrics:
• Active User Growth: Measure the increase in active users engaging with the platforms post-implementation.
• Proposal Submission Rate: Quantify changes in the frequency of proposal submissions.

It’s evident that there’s room for improvement in the voting system. However, it’s not possible to make improvement proposals if we can’t delve more deeply into the voting results. Without the necessary information, we would be making improvement proposals semi-blindly.

We have to make data-driven improvement proposals for next funds.

Right know some of the available information is:

• Casted votes per proposal
• Total positive voting power per proposal
• Total negative voting power per proposal

But for example, the publication of the number of positive and negative vote casts received by each proposal was disabled since Fund5. Link is here from Catalyst forum

Image what it will do in case of the whole voting, and funding of the ideascale catalyst system, this is a snap of just only voting researches Fund10

[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?

Our team consists of experienced professionals in software development, machine learning, web and blockchain technology. With a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions, we are well-equipped to develop and implement the Reputation Engine Model for Cardano IdeaScale and Lidonation. 

Our team has successfully develop Blockchain and Merit Based Reputation Engine for Singularitynet.io of Mindplex.ai

Our team is proud to be partnered with MLOps Community, a global organization at the forefront of machine learning, DevOps, and cutting-edge technology. As hosts and organizers of the Addis Ababa chapter, we facilitate Meetups , YouTube videos, newsletters, podcasts, and more, providing a platform for knowledge sharing and networking. With branches in various countries and partnerships with industry leaders like AWS, NVIDIA, Databricks and more, we have demonstrated our capacity to deliver successful events and initiatives, showcasing our commitment to innovation and community engagement.

Our team has achieved significant milestones in the realm of educational mobile applications, boasting over 100,000 downloads and maintaining an active user base exceeding 60,000. You can explore our flagship app here: link.

Furthermore, we're proud to highlight our successful participation in 'Cardano for 100,000+ students,' securing funding through Fund 11. You can view our project proposal and track record here: link.

In addition to our project successes, we're thrilled to announce our collaboration with Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, a partnership that further solidifies our commitment to innovation and growth.

Our approach will involve thorough research, stakeholder consultation, and iterative development to ensure the model meets the needs of the community.

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

Research and Development Planning: Milestones 1

• Output and Plane:
• Conduct extensive research on existing reputation systems and gather requirements from the community.
• Develop a comprehensive plan for the reputation engine algorithm and user based research findings and community input.

Algorithm Development and Wireframe Design: Milestones 2

• Output and Plane:
• Develop the reputation engine algorithm according to the established plan, focusing on accuracy and scalability.
• Design wireframes for the user interface, ensuring intuitive navigation and alignment with stakeholder expectations.

Prototype Development, Integration and Off Chain Testing: Milestones 3

• Output and Plane:
• Integrate the reputation engine with IdeaScale and Lidonation platforms old and new data, preparing for data exchange and functionality testing.
• Conduct off chain testing with simulated data to evaluate the algorithm's performance and refine it based on feedback.

Testing and Quality Assurance: Milestones 4

• Output and Plane:
• Conduct testing of the reputation engine in a new environment, ensuring compatibility and reliability.
• Perform comprehensive quality assurance testing, including unit tests, integration tests, and user acceptance testing, to validate functionality and usability.

Deployment, Launch, and Maintenance: Milestones 5

• Output and Plane:
• Deploy the reputation engine to production environments, configuring infrastructure components for optimal performance.
• Coordinate with platform administrators to schedule the launch and communicate updates to the community.
• Establish monitoring and maintenance procedures to track performance, address issues, and ensure ongoing improvement.

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

Our team includes experts in machine learning, API, Web, Mobile and blockchain development, and project management, ensuring comprehensive coverage of all project aspects. 

1.Menilik Eshetu - Open Source Specialist, Lead Backend and Reputation System Developer

• LinkedIn: Menilik eshetu linkedin
• Conducting research, curating resources, and organizing content
• and Website : Website
• Currently working at:  Singularitynet.io in Web2, Web3 and Reputation Developer
• Email: menilik.eshetu@singularitynet.io
• Github : Github account
• Website : Menilik-Website
• Cardano Blockchain Certified Associate: Menilik’s_Certificate_CBCA_5352426
• Member of Microsoft for startups founders hub

2. Gerawork Aynekulu - Blockchain Developer and DevOps Engineer with more than 4 years of experience

• Github: gerawork github
• Linkedin : Gerawork Linkedin
• Manages technical and non technical aspects of the project.

3. Surafel Fikru - Blockchain Developer at Singualritynet with more than 2 year of experience    

• Experienced in programming languages such as Plutus, Haskell, Lucid, Mesh and Marlowe to build and deploy smart contracts with extensive knowledge of the Cardano blockchain
• Linkedin Profile : Linkedin Profile
• Github : Github account

4. Ishak Sebsibe - API Developer | Backend Developer | Reputation System Developer

• Linkedin : Ishak’s Linkedin
• Github : Ishak’s GIthub
• Portofoli : Ishak_Portofoli

5. Tollan S. Berhanu - AGI Research | AI Development | Cardano Blockchain | Full-stack Web

• Haskell and plutus developer
• Linkedin: Linkedin Profile
• Github : GIthub Profile

6 Betelhem Girmay - Human Resource and Digital Marketing Specialist

Our team experienced professional adept at content creation, copywriting, and promotion. Betelhem will manage HR tasks while leveraging digital marketing strategies to enhance project visibility and engagement.

• Linkedin - Bethlehem's Linkedin

7 Partners and Groups with existing educational and experienced experts

• Telegram channels : BlockChain_Network Group
• Twitter Handle : BlockChain Network / X
• General Discussion Channel : Code-Night

Direct lines of communication have been established to ensure effective coordination and access to necessary resources.

Team Engagement: All listed team members have been engaged and have confirmed their roles and commitment to the project timelines.

 This community are in short 

Community Hub: Our channel serves as a vibrant hub for interested in blockchain technology. It's a place where enthusiasts, developers, and learners come together to share knowledge, ask questions, and explore the vast potential of blockchain.

Learning Opportunities: people Join us to access educational resources, discussions, and insights into blockchain technology. Whether they are a beginner or an expert, there's always something new to discover and learn in our community.

Networking Platform: Connect with like-minded individuals, experts, and professionals in the blockchain space. Forge valuable partnerships, collaborate on projects, and stay updated on the latest developments and opportunities in blockchain ecosystem.

Community Engagement: Engage in lively discussions, community meetups, and awareness campaigns aimed at promoting blockchain adoption and innovation. Be part of a movement that's shaping the future of technology and entrepreneurship in our country.

Partnership Opportunities: Explore partnership opportunities with blockchain technology companies, startups, and organizations. Together, we can drive meaningful impact and create innovative solutions that benefit our community and beyond.

Note: Our teams are partnered with Binance Africa and started the Process of partnering with Polkadot., Singularitynet And more

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

A detailed budget breakdown encompassing expenses related to development, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance of the Reputation Engine. We are committed to transparent financial management and accountability throughout the project lifecycle.

• Development Costs: 
• Blockchain Developer Salary (full-time developer): 9,400 ADA/month x 5 months = 47,000 ADA
• Backend Developer = 17,000 ADA
• Wireframe and design = 3500 ADA

Cardano-Software-Developer-Average Salary

Infrastructure Costs: 

• AWS Server Hosting 12,000 ADA (AWS offers a pay-as-you-go approach)
• Domain Registration: 1,000 ADA
• Testing and Quality Assurance:
• Testing Tools and Frameworks: 5,000 ADA
• Enhancement and bug fixation = 6000 ADA
• Documentation and Reporting:
• Technical Writing and Documentation and Reporting: 8,000 ADA

Miscellaneous Expenses:

• Marketing and Promotion: 5,000 ADA
• Risk Mitigation Reserve:
• Contingency Fund: 5,500 ADA (5% of total budget)
• Reserved for addressing unforeseen challenges or additional needs during project execution

Total Budget: 110,000 ADA

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

The proposed budget represents high value for money.

The funding requested for this project represents an investment in the future of Cardano's IdeaScale and Lidonation platforms. By enhancing trust, accountability, and transparency, the Reputation Engine will deliver tangible benefits to the Cardano ecosystem, ensuring the efficient allocation of resources and fostering sustainable growth and innovation.

The Reputation Engine presents an unprecedented opportunity to elevate the integrity and effectiveness of Cardano's IdeaScale and Lidonation platforms. By harnessing the power of data analytics and learning algorithms, we can build a more resilient and trustworthy ecosystem that empowers users and drives meaningful impact. 

Clear Reporting: Regular reporting and impact assessment activities demonstrate the commitment to transparency and accountability, providing the Cardano community with insights into fund utilization and project outcomes.

Transparent Allocation: The budget breakdown Each budget item is meticulously justified and ensures a transparent allocation of funds to critical project components, balancing development, content creation, testing, community engagement, and impact assessment.

Attracting Stakeholders: The transparent and accountable ecosystem fosters trust among users, investors, and partners, driving sustainable growth and innovation within the Cardano community.

Long-term Benefits: The long-term benefits of a reliable reputation system outweigh the initial investment, positioning Cardano as a leader in fostering a robust and thriving ecosystem.

Together, let's pave the way for a brighter future for Cardano 🚀.