Cardano for MENA

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

-Our platform predominantly targets university students, and we believe as project makers in the indispensability of the awareness-raising about these new technologies.

     -The demographics of the MENA region show a highly populated, culturally-diverse region. As of 2020, the population was 464,542,370 million. (The World Bank)

Now, let's picture how many people can be informed about blockchain and kept up to date. Also, consider how many young, ambitious programmers will be capable of writing the history of modern technology.

         Establish a community related to modern technology by introducing Arabic students to the amazing world of blockchain and build a community to empower them to learn modern technologies and improve their potential in technology.

         Create a safe space for students passionate about technology and eager to acquire knowledge of a revolutionary technology that transformed the world.

         Spread the blockchain technology among students and enlighten them.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

The Middle East and North Africa region is not getting enough recognition in the

technology field because of the inaccessibility of information in their native language.

Moreover, students are not necessarily English proficient, which unfortunately hinders

them from keeping abreast of these immense opportunities offered by blockchain

technology, especially Cardano.

1- Financial restrictions:

Countries in The MENA region are generally developing countries. This means that,

naturally, university students are struggling financially to pay for their education, expand

their knowledge, and improve their tough living conditions despite their hard work and

devotion to learning and evolving.

2- Lack of Knowledge in the blockchain domain:

Unfortunately, few people in MENA region have heard of blockchain and its

effectiveness. In this way, they may fail to understand blockchain as a payment method

that facilitates transactions nationally and internationally as an alternative to outdated

other methods. That's the main reason our team strongly believes that the native

cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain, ADA, the pioneer decentralized

cryptocurrency, must be promoted and introduced to the MENA region as soon as

possible.

3- Lack of guidance on where to start when learning blockchain technology

• Diving into the immense world of blockchain as a beginner requires guidance and

assistance from experts and skilled instructors. That way, learners can avoid confusion

and wrong moves throughout their journey. Not to mention, our team guarantee that

students are introduced to Cardano, the leading third-generation blockchain.

Gather committed students from all over the MENA region striving to excel in

programming, especially building DApps on the Cardano blockchain.

No more limitations for students to unleash their creativity and capacities

and gain technical knowledge and skills.

Spot ambitious students with innovative business ideas yet who face fund shortages.

Then, connect them with global engineers in this community, who are ready to

innovatively support their project ideas.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Challenge 1: Ensuring a significant number of students enroll for the platform

• This issue will be resolved by digital marketing activities, which will entail contacting numerous universities. Furthermore, we want to promote our project extensively on social media platforms, as well as focus on establishing a user-friendly platform that will capture students' interest and make the website simple to use.

Challenge 2: The inability to deliver the information accurately to beginners and the difficulty of assimilating blockchain concepts with which students are unfamiliar.

simplifying the educated content as much as possible by teaching students the fundamentals of blockchain technology in a fun and simple way.

Challenge 3:  The lack of interaction between the learners and their instructors:

• scheduling online lessons that will be interactive, with students being graded on their participation, as well as quizzes during the lessons. In addition, all online lessons will be recorded and saved on the platform for future reference.

Challenge 4:   Not receiving constructive feedback from learners to improve the platform's quality:

• arranging Zoom meetings for students to submit feedback and fill out surveys regarding their learning experience on our platform Those Zoom meetings will provide a safe environment for students to openly discuss their innovative ideas for improving our platform.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

You can check our detailed plan down below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cZ0uAJ7sKPHm9CBHjCX4t6g1n6ElNkjFu19CjlRTjIg/edit?usp=sharing

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

• Website development:$2500
• payment for teachers : $750
• Social Media and web marketing : $750
• Videos editing: $500
• content translation : $500

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

• Our team members will include a programming expert as project manager, who guides the team, measures project progress, and promotes the project while remaining in contact with skilled instructors.
• Yosr Benmahmoud, a computer science student, and Manar Bennaceur, a Pre-engineering student at Faculty of sciences of Tunis, are both hardworking and committed students who will develop the platform, design it, and innovate a captivating logo from scratch. This will be done under expert help and supervision.
• Our team will be fully supported by Oussama Benmahmoud, a Cardano community member and Plutus Pioneer, as well as his company PeakSoft GmbH, a software development company based in Germany.
• You can contact us at the following university email addresses:

Yosr.benmahmoud@etudiant-fst.utm.tn

Manar.bennaceur@etudiant-fst.utm.tn

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Undoubtedly, yes.

As a student, I plan on working on other projects and believe that the catalyst community is a great place for the valuable opportunities Cardano provides.

Fund 9 serves as proof that Cardano actively encourages young and ambitious students to present their creative business ideas, subsequently developing them to success.

Eventually, this initiative will encourage students enrolled on our platform to apply for funding for their own projects in the future.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

•       Establishing clear deadlines for every task will ensure team members are on track
•          Setting specific goals and deliverables throughout the project
•          Communicating between teammates is key to ensuring the project runs smoothly and everyone completes their tasks on time.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Our project will be considered successful when these objectives are fulfilled:

•    Maintaining the budget and not exceeding it.
•    Achieving the project's purpose by introducing the greatest number of students to programming and blockchain before training them to be fully ready for the professional world.
•   Receiving constructive feedback and honorable ratings from website users.
•   Establishing a reputable and creditable platform.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

new proposal