Cardano Kiosk | Hub-in-a-box

[IMPACT]

Main deliverable:

The design and development of a kiosk-sized hub that can be flat-packed, shipped, then set up without industrial equipment in less than 24 hours. This hub will cater to and be operated by 1 or 2 people at a time and act a first-point of contact for those in rural or low-income areas.

Project Brief:

The concept of Cardano Information Kiosks (CIKs) is a revival of the concept of Rural Internet Kiosks (RIKs) that was popularised once satellite internet came into mainstream understanding in the late 2000s. There was a sustained effort to connect rural communities to the global network, but at that time, neither satellite technology nor the renewable energy sources such as solar were at a point of being affordable for the retail consumer, especially those in low-income areas.

This has now changed, and we can point to numerous examples of new solar companies, telecoms and construction companies that are building business around provisioning for rural, low-income areas. There is an opportunity for us to leverage this move towards penetrating low-internet access areas, by providing our own services, mainly for identity and finance to scale adoption of Cardano.

Types of services rendered through the CIK:

• DID services
• Charging and repair
• Stakepool services
• Data Oracle provider
• Exchange services and mobile money
• Wallet set-up and DeFi banking
• and more

By scaling down the initial capital requirements and reducing ongoing maintenance costs, this proposal satisfies the challenge's goal of providing a minimum-viable hub (MVH) solution.

Working from the principles outline in the challenge setting:

1. Delivering information to people who would not otherwise have the access. Very High - This proposal directly addresses the need to provide access through the construction of small-scale, cost-effective hubs.
2. Ensuring resilience and self-reliance within that community. High - "Banking the Unbanked" - The CIKs allow access to a host of services that would have previously been unavailable to many of these rural communities. Ideally, the network of CIKs will be owned by the community members themselves, held in the commons and managed by smart contract.

Challenge KPIs (Impact):

1. Launching Hubs (Very High)
2. Developer Onboarding (High)
3. New User Onboarding (High)
4. Total reach of launch (Medium)
5. External Organisations (Low)

The outcomes of the project will be communicated through the Wada website and the Cardano Hubs Directory (CHD).

Risk Management:

Security - CIKs will have high-end IoT security systems as well as remote locking and SMS alerts to tampering. As a source of connectivity, the hub's 'always-on' nature deters any tampering or damage.

Local demand - Given the portability of the CIK by its flat-pack design, it benefits from both the flexibility of the mobile hub, and the community presence of a traditional hub. By hiring a moving truck for a day, with readily-available power tools, a CIK should be able to be moved and re-located in a matter of days.

Eco-sustainability - All CIKs will be rated according to a sustainability audit, in terms of manufacture, recyclable-materials usage and transport to location. CIKs will use renewable sources of energy in order to power their operations.

Project sustainability:

The financial model of the CIK project is based around two areas:

1. Future orders of designs, specifications and materials from prospective CIK owners.
2. Community fundraising to build local CIKs.

The financial model of CIK itself is based around:

1. Services rendered by the CIK (see first section on impact).
2. Advertisements from local businesses on the CIK side panel.

[FEASIBILITY]

Roadmap: (After successful funding)

First 30 Days:

• Design team and engineers to document requirements and specification.
• Key partners identified to provide hardware.

3 months:

• Website completed with a community feature for DIY CIK designs and blueprints.
• Marketing campaign launched (30-days).
• Equipment purchased.

6 months:

• Fabrication complete and delivered to location.
• On-site installation and launch.
• Second marketing campaign (30-days)
• Feedback gathered on prototype and second iteration in design phase.

Post-launch:

• V2 design complete.
• Phase II 'Hub-in-a-box' proposal submission.
• Agreements made with manufacture for limited-run orders.

Main deliverable and outcome:

The design and delivery of a prototype, based on a kiosk-sized hub that can be replicated globally for maximum utility and minimum cost.

Budget:

• Security system: High-end IoT security system with GPS and remote locking $2500
• 3D Design & Fabrication: $3000
• Engineering consultant: $3000
• Materials & Equipment: Base-unit plus hardware $15000
• Team fees: Project management $6000
• Manufacture & Shipping: Build of base unit on site plus delivery $3000
• Website & Marketing: $2000
• Branding & Design (2D): $500

Total: $35000

Core Team & Roles:

Josh F - Global Lead @ Wada

Funded proposer and challenge setter, active Catalyst member since Fund 2, stakepool operator, Catalyst conference host and Cardano hub builder. https://linkedin.com/in/joshfielding

+ Wada team support https://wada.org/about-us

Main Stakeholder: Wada ( https://wada.org )

Relevant Partners:

ADA Sustainability ( https://www.sustainableada.com )

Potential Partners:

• World Mobile ( https://worldmobile.io/smartvillage )
• Boxabl (https://boxabl-homes.com)
• Raspberry Pi (https://www.raspberrypi.com)
• Brightbox (https://kwickboost.com/products)

[AUDITABILITY]

Key Metrics:

• Total reach (in-person and online)
• Number of new wallets created
• Number of new members onboarded to Catalyst
• Number of new proposers onboarded
• Number of new hubs created using the CIK model
• CPE (Cost-per-engagement) - Measuring a hub's annualized cost per 'service event' and offering a quantitative comparison to traditional hubs.

What success looks like:

After its first year of installation, the CIK will have serviced at least 500 people through wallet creation, device-charging, data provisions, internet connectivity and more.

*3 months*: Design, specification and fabrication stages all completed. 25 service events (post-launch).

*6 months*: CIK launched and open to the public. 100 service events (post-launch).

Affiliated Proposals:

• Cardano Hubs Directory:
• https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/396554
• WadaDEX: https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/405294

Past Proposals (Funded):

• Cardano Mobile Hubs:
• https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/381001
• Local Community Centers:
• https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Local-Centers-in-West-Africa/340029-48088
• Planting Roots in Africa:
• https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Planting-Roots-in-Africa/366767-48088

Extra Resources:

• Africa's Mesh network boom: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/12/bridging-africas-digital-divide-the-rise-of-community-internet?mc_cid=fe99be35f5&mc_eid=34c2ba40bd
• Primer on Rural Internet Kiosks:
• https://www.dvv-international.de/en/adult-education-and-development/editions/aed-762011/elearning-and-modern-media/the-rural-internet-kiosks-information-empowerment-for-rural-africa
• Innovative flat-pack construction:

• 
  
• Rural Internet Kiosk Documentary:

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Interested in contributing or partnering? Get in touch today by contacting josh@wada.org