Medium of underrepresented Africans

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

The Problem Situation

There are already well-established solutions available for information retrieval which unfortunately provide the best experience only for the users having high-tier devices and strong internet connection. The reason is that, the rate of development of internet technologies and the adaptation of corresponding device solutions in the first-world countries has far surpassed that of the rest of the world. However, the overwhelming majority of these sources are in English and the language barrier creates obstacles for the African youth in obtaining their financial liberty. In addition, even in developed parts of Africa, the internet connection speed is significantly lower than that of Europe. Also, due to economical reasons, the majority of the African population is only able to reach low-tier devices with limited capabilities. Overall, this situation makes it difficult for the underrepresented groups of Africa to attain a reliable source of information in terms of Cardano ecosystem and blockchain technologies.

Our solution

Our solution will be establishing a reliable French medium based on a heavily search engine optimised static HTML-CSS only responsive website, whose server is located in Africa, and a separate AMP document for the underrepresented people of Africa, supported with social media accounts considering the widespread usage of social media networks in Africa. 

Outcome

The outcome of our work will be providing above-mentioned underrepresented groups in Africa with a reliable source of information on Cardano ecosystem and blockchain technologies, with a secure source of prosperity, and a sustainable financial liberty in the long-run.

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

Alignment with the challenge

The challenge states Cardano intends to measure as key metrics:

• Number of proposals addressing the fundamental issues preventing Cardano adoption in Africa 
• Number of proposals offering solutions to infrastructure and education concerns
• Number of new Africa-based users onboarded onto Cardano (wallets, platform sign-ups)
• Local impact (measurable through user activity and reach)

This proposal generates a direct solution with respect to the pertaining key metrics.

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

Funding

If the project is approved, with the proposed budget, there is no liable financial risk of failing to realise this solution.

Technology Risk

HTML, CSS, responsive web design and AMP technologies have been considered to be matured and standardised. There are also financially stable datacenters with up-to-par know-how located in Africa providing a secure connection and infrastructure for our proposed medium.

Marketing 

The marketing strategy of our proposed medium is based on heavy search engine optimization and social media networks.

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

Module 1: UX/UI Design

Primary Work Group: UX/UI Designer

Duration: September-December

Resources: 100 hrs + module operations budget 

Key milestones and expected deliveries: Starts with funding approval, creation of the fundamental designs in the first two weeks, development of the UI in the next two weeks, and the maintenance during the rest of the period.

Module 2: Development

Primary Work Group: Full-Stack Developer

Duration: September-December

Resources: 250 hrs + module operations budget

Key milestones and expected deliveries: Starts with funding approval, preparation of the server and infrastructure during the first two weeks, HTML-heavy development of the platform in the next two weeks, AMP-heavy development in the next two weeks, maintenance of the platforms during the rest of the period.

Module 3: Translation

Primary Work Group: Translator

Duration: October-December

Resources: 180 hrs + module operations budget

Key milestones and expected deliveries: Starts with the launch of the website, translates and edits one article per day during 2 months.

Module 4: Content Creation

Primary Work Group: Visual Designer

Duration: October-December

Resources: 60 hrs + module operations budget

Key milestones and expected deliveries: Starts with the launch of the website, creates daily visual designs to support the content.

Module 5: Social Media Management

Primary Work Group: Social Media Responsible

Duration: October-December

Resources: 180 hrs + module operations budget

Key milestones and expected deliveries: Starts with the launch of the website, daily updates of the platforms during the next two months.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Module 1: UX/UI Design

Personnel Budget: 5000 USD

50 USD/hr * 100 hrs

30 hrs: Research, development

30 hrs: Testing, collaboration with the developer

40 hrs: Testing, maintenance

Operations Budget: 0 USD (Open-source solutions)

Total: 5000 USD

Module 2: Development

Personnel Budget: 12400 USD

50 hrs: Research and optimization of the server. 50 USD/hr * 50hrs

100 hrs: HTML-CSS only website development and maintenance. 59 USD/hr * 100 hrs

100 hrs: AMP development and maintenance. 40 USD/hr * 100 hrs

Operations Budget: 900 USD

Total: 13300 USD

Module 3: Translation

Personnel Budget: 5400 USD

30 USD/hr * 180 hrs

180hrs: Translating and editing articles.

Operations Budget: 0 USD

Total: 5400 USD

Module 4: Content Creation

Personnel Budget: 1800 USD

30 USD/hr * 60 hrs

60hrs: Daily visual content creation.

Operations Budget: 0 USD

Total: 1800 USD

Module 5: Social Media Management

Personnel Budget: 4500 USD

25 USD/hr * 180 hrs

180hrs: Daily management of social media accounts

Operations Budget: 0 USD

Total: 4500 USD

Module Total = 30000 USD

Total = 30000 USD

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

Osman Gülmez, UX/UI Designer

Studied design, has 5 years of experience in responsive web design.

Alperen Kızıltaş, Full-Stack Developer, Project Lead

Has 10 years of experience in full-stack development.

Tunahan Akbulut, Translator

Majored industrial engineering and minored philosophy at an anglophone university. Majoring in philosophy for the second time at a Francophone university and Sorbonne simultaneously.

Taylan Safa Doğruol, Visual Designer

Studying and freelance experience in visual design.

Kutay Önel, Social Media Responsible

Long-term trader of cryptocurrencies. 50 years old, a long career of stock market and trading.

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

Yes. If the project reaches a sufficient target audience, we intend to develop an interactional platform and make it available in local African languages with a new group of translators.

[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?

Within the team, which has already a vast experience of working remotely and face-to-face, the progress will be tracked through the developments in Git and OpenProject platform, which is already being used actively.

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

The success for our project is to be able to launch this above-mentioned highly-accessible platform for the target audience and publish informative and up-to-standard articles periodically during the established time-frame.

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

No.