Decentralization Aids: Geo & Infra

Web app which displays a pools relay location, stake and infrastructure provider, with the intent of spreading Cardano far and wide.

Worked in R&D for past 8 years, 3 years ago I started training and deploying AI models.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-watanabe/

OVERVIEW:

Capturing the potential of the PoS decentralized protocol by educating delegators and pool operators on the current instantiation of the Cardano network on https://www.monadpool.com/cardano.html - since launch it has been served a little over 9k times.
I've made a brief overview of the tool as it existed a month or two ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG-SV04QLs

BACKGROUND:

I got started mining BTC back in November 2013, back when small operators could still *kind of* compete against bigger players using frankenstein multi-gpu setups. I lost interest in BTC as it became clear that industrialized setups were necessary to stay competitive, and that lead to centralization.

I got reinvigorated in crypto when reading Cardano in 2020, as having been away from the scene for a long time, it was exciting to see that PoS was not just an idea but actually coming online. It's still amazing to me that this network is alive and running, and I want to figure out a way for delegators to fully appreciate just how special this network is in terms of what it allows for decentralization. To that end, I've begun working on a site for visualizing the networks geospatial and economic properties.

FEATURES TO IMPLEMENT:
I'd like to further develop this tool by implementing a number of features directed at delegators, primarily a simple wizard/form which takes into account user preferences to recommend pools, taking into account such factors as:
- Location (Pool near user, or near a location the user wants to contribute to Cardano spreading)
- Infrastructure (Avoid big cloud providers, or gravitate towards them for reliability)
- Number of relays (diverse locations & infra providers)
- Pool size (Spread stake around, or go for more steady returns in a big pool)
- Risk appetite (Take a chance with a smaller pool in hopes of getting better rewards, or go for more reliable returns)
- Open to other ideas as suggested by the community
For Cardano stakeholders, both delegators and SPOs:
A centralization warning:
1. A series of filters which analyze the stake distribution across multiple axes to determine the least number of SPOs/entities required to execute a 51% attack.
2. A georisk analysis to show the minimum area required to take 51% (or a slider for N%) of the network offline, making a sybil attack easier.
The reason for focusing on the wizard, is I've observed that "what pool should I stake with?" is an extremely recurring question across all Cardano related social media platforms. I'd like to make an impartial tool which can assist new and old delegators in digesting the myriad factors which contribute to making a staking decision, both from a personal gain and network optimization perspective.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN:
As far as implementing this work, I have gotten it to its current state all on my own so far. I am asking for funds because I would like to take the app to the next level and hire out some sub-tasks to colleagues I've worked with in the past, and while I am passionate about Cardano and have put my own time into getting the app to where it is today, I would need to compensate these individuals for their time.

METRICS:
Inherent to the project, we should be able to track and see the network further decentralize over time. I would like to implement a Transaction ID tool so that people who used the site could enter their delegation decision into the site and we could see how much of the movement was attributable to the site.
Additional information around web traffic/etc would of course be available.