Proposal: Dash and ASU

[teddy bear]

Introduction:

The Dash network is in a unique position to help radically change how the current university-level blockchain education system operates. By strategically investing in the already established connection with ASU, the Dash network can build a strong pipeline of students and educational opportunities to advance the blockchain technology. Dash and Arizona State University have a great ongoing relationship connected through both the Dash sponsored Blockchain Research Lab (CASCADE) and Dash Core HQ location at ASU SkySong. Ranked as the most innovative university in the United States, by U.S. News and World Report, ASU consistently strives to push the boundaries of education and seeks to partner with organizations and industry partners who are doing the same. Together, Dash and ASU can accelerate and leverage their on-going partnership to launch a community for the blockchain innovators of tomorrow at ASU.

Proposal:

This proposal is for a charitable grant in student scholarships, research labs, open source research projects and a blockchain course creation totaling $350,000.

Dash Scholars: $100,000

Dash Scholars Program would provide scholarship funding of $10,000 for five (5) incoming freshmen, $5,000 for two (2) students of each of the other undergraduate academic level (sophomore, junior, senior) of study and $5,000 for four (4) graduate students, with the objective of building meaningful guidance and real-world exposure for students studying blockchain technology. The available funding puts more weight towards incoming freshmen enabling more impact with the outreach effort. ASU wants to push this scholarship through as many outlets as possible and allowing for more incoming freshmen, with a higher monetary value, will increase the pool of quality applicants. This also allows Dash to gain large national coverage targeting high school students while directing a pipeline of blockchain talent to the Dash network. The students from each level of study (freshman through graduate students) would be selected to build a community of scholars and mentors at ASU. This group would also create a continuous flow of student talent exiting the University. Scholarships would be selected through criteria jointly agreed upon by ASU and Dash and awarded through the ASU scholarship process for the academic year 2018-2019. Scholarships would be renewable pending available additional funding from Dash.

Research Lab/Industry open source projects: $150,000

Beyond scholarships, further investments in the Blockchain Research Lab ($100,000) and an additional investment in the Luminosity Lab ($50,000) would enable ASU research labs to hire top undergraduate and graduate students to further blockchain research and blockchain projects. Applied blockchain projects would be provided by industry partners, like Dash, through each lab and would build real-world experiences and direct applications of coursework for each of the students.

Each lab that has agreed to be involved in the initiative offers a unique perspective of blockchain technology through the type of projects/work that they each specialize in. The Dash sponsored Blockchain Research Lab, directed by Dr. Dragan Boscovic, currently focuses on scaling the Dash network and the implications of certain changes to the network through simulated environments.

“Blockchain technology is revolutionizing digitalization prospects for many industries, asking for new skills to be developed across many professions and domains. Continuation of collaboration between Dash and ASU/CASCADE will help and encourage both students and educators to expand their learning resources to demystify blockchain technology to a larger population of undergraduate and graduate students.

Blockchain Research Lab welcomes this initiative and is ready to play its role in creating a potent blockchain innovation environment for young talents to develop practical blockchain applications.”
- Dragan Boscovic

Moreover, the ASU Luminosity Lab, directed by Mark Naufel, utilizes strategic design, systems thinking, and rapid product realization to develop and deploy ideas, tools, and technologies that provide unconventional and effective solutions to complex challenges. The lab operates under the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development and is frequently in communication, with regards to projects, with Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University, and Sethuraman Panchanathan, Executive Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer of Knowledge Enterprise Development.

Blockchain Course Creation: $100,000

To continue building the community of master learners around blockchain we would be honored to partner with Dash to build an online course. This course would complete an online master’s degree offering in computer science. Taken individually to expand a student’s knowledge about blockchain, or taken as a part of a master’s degree program, students will exit the course with a deep understanding of blockchain and its application.

Needless of an introduction, the CEO of Dash Core Group, Ryan Taylor, supports the proposed Dash ASU Program and will help facilitate, along with the rest of the Dash Core Group Team, the applied project on behalf of the Dash network.

“Developing and attracting talent to meet the needs of the blockchain space is critical for the success of projects like Dash. The growth in the talent base is simply not keeping pace with rapidly increasing demand. The Dash Scholar Program could help draw attention to blockchain education and allow bright students to make meaningful contributions to research while gaining experience with a real project. The Dash Network itself recognizes the idea that there are more aspects in making digital currency a reality than just the underpinnings of the blockchain technology supporting it. This is reflected in the types of proposals and initiatives that the network supports. With coordination happening across the university to formulate a holistic program for students centered around Dash aligns with our goals and complements our existing partnership with ASU’s Blockchain Laboratory to extend our partnership into new areas of the university.”
- Ryan Taylor

Looking forward:

The future of blockchain technology is advancing quickly. Together, the DASH Network and ASU can accelerate the technology around blockchain like no other partnership. Harnessing the combined power of ASU, the largest university in the country, and our cross-disciplinary work, partnerships could include research across law, social sciences, economics, business and coding expertise. Concepts could include a one of a kind named center, additional research connections, and faculty and student support. Together our potential is limitless.

Treasury Funding Disbursement:

This proposal uses Dash Core Group’s business development address as the payout address. Dash Core Group will convert $350,000 worth of the funds into USD and then give those funds to the ASU Foundation under the Blockchain Research Lab. From there, the Blockchain Research Lab will store/disburse the funds. Dash Core Group will also return the proposal fee (5 Dash) to the proposer’s address.

Conclusion:

We look forward to growing the partnership between Dash and ASU. By supporting students, lab research and the creation of an online course, the Dash Network has the potential to radically shift how university-level blockchain education is structured. Dash is the only digital currency network with the funding capability and proper partnerships to truly make an impact in blockchain education. We believe proper education is the defining factor that stands between mass understanding/adoption of blockchain technology and digital currencies. By engaging in such an initiative, the Dash network will be enabling the future leaders in blockchain technology, as well as showing the true potential of a decentralized autonomous organization.

Background/Proposers:

Jeremy Liu is an undergraduate studying Mathematics at Arizona State University. At ASU, Jeremy is an undergraduate researcher/collaborator in the Luminosity Lab, Actionable Analytics Lab, and Blockchain Research Lab. He also serves as the Co-Founder and Director of Research and Development for the Blockchain Innovation Society.

Marcus Jones is a senior studying Finance at Arizona State University. During his years at ASU, he became a member of the Investment Banking Industry Scholars (IBIS) program, is a member of the global Blockchain Education Network (BEN), leads the business development team in the Luminosity Lab and is the Co-Founder and Director of Finance for the Blockchain Innovation Society (BIS).


Budget: Dash Network $350,000 + 5 Dash

Scholars 15 $100,000
Freshman 5 - $10,000 $50,000
Sophomore 2 - $5,000 $10,000
Junior 2 - $5,000 $10,000
Senior 2 - $5,000 $10,000
Graduate 4 - $5,000 $20,000

Lab Investments $150,000
Blockchain Lab $100,000
Luminosity Lab $50,000

Course Creation $100,000
Graduate level course $100,000

Dash Proposal Fee 5 Dash

 

[tungfa]

i double checked with ryan
and yes Teddy Bear is from ASU and the real thing !

 

[TroyDASH]

The scope of this is really wide... Does offering this scholarship really qualify as "large national coverage"? Is it really realistic to use this as a talent pipeline for the Dash network? How many of these students who go through this program are actually going to end up working for Dash? Instead of spending $350,000 (plus potentially indefinitely renewing funds going forward) for a program where some of the students might end up working for Dash after a few years, why not just hire some top developers who already have blockchain experience, right now? I'm all for blockchain education but I'm not sure if this is a good use of Dash resources.

 

[Leonidas]

why not just hire some top developers who already have blockchain experience

I read somewhere that there was a shortage of developers with experience in the blockchain industry (one developer had the choice between 10 to 15 jobs). So that might be a good idea (even more if we think long term which is our trademark)

 

[TroyDASH]

I read somewhere that there was a shortage of developers with experience in the blockchain industry (one developer had the choice between 10 to 15 jobs). So that might be a good idea (even more if we think long term which is our trademark)

There is a shortage for sure, but this might benefit the blockchain industry more than it does Dash. We can already afford competitive rates for our own developers, I'd rather just pay the premium (which will go down over time as more people get involved in blockchain) than invest in a program where most students are going to end up working on other projects or having careers that are not with Dash.

 

[Leonidas]

but this might benefit the blockchain industry more than it does Dash

The war is still much more fiat vs crypto than crypto vs crypto. So if Dash gains 10 $ a piece the every other crypto gains 2$ a piece, it's a win for me.

I'd rather just pay the premium (which will go down over time as more people get involved in blockchain) than invest in a program where most students are going to end up working on other projects or having careers that are not with Dash.

It is my understanding that companies already get involved in the university funding (at least it is slowly happening in France). They won't have a precise say in decision but they sure will have influence and, besides, it shows that it benefits them more than if they would have not.

In that pre-proposal, students will clearly know where the funding comes from and their human brains will be grateful for it and will always know that they are somewhat in debt to Dash. This will make some of them come to Dash and the one who don't will never say a bad word on it.

 

[TroyDASH]

The war is still much more fiat vs crypto than crypto vs crypto. So if Dash gains 10 $ a piece the every other crypto gains 2$ a piece, it's a win for me.

Agreed, but it looks more to me like $1 for Dash and $10 for crypto.

It is my understanding that companies already get involved in the university funding (at least it is slowly happening in France). They won't have a precise say in decision but they sure will have influence and, besides, it shows that it benefits them more than if they would have not.

In that pre-proposal, students will clearly know where the funding comes from and their human brains will be grateful for it and will always know that they are somewhat in debt to Dash. This will make some of them come to Dash and the one who don't will never say a bad word on it.

Idk, in my college experience most undergrads with scholarships (including myself) didn't think too much about wherever the scholarship came from. You're in high school or college, you search for scholarships and you apply for a ton of them. A blockchain scholarship would probably be highly sought after because of the great career opportunities down the line, but there's nothing that really ties it back to Dash. If we're going to do scholarships at all, I would rather that most or all of the amount be devoted to graduate level programs, or doctorate-level research grants, and with a more direct connection to Dash-related projects.

 

[Ftoole]

I like this but the part I am not so happy about is converting to usd. Can’t the ASU foundation figure out how to accept dash. Not trying to be rude we give them some funding I would think we could pay in dash.

 

[Leonidas]

Agreed, but it looks more to me like $1 for Dash and $10 for crypto.

Please explain me how you imagine that 10 students (let's say 1 student = 1dollar here) would go to every crypto while only one would go to Dash ?

Now if you are not refering to each crypto but just the crypto world, it means that your ratio is pretty good as their are 1300 tokens. That'd be 1 student for Dash and 10 students for 1300 projects.

most undergrads with scholarships (including myself) didn't think too much about wherever the scholarship came from

I agree for normal scholarship. But I believe a student choosing blockchain technology would be pretty amazed when knowing that's a blockchain itself paying for his class (of course, that Dash is paying for it must be said somewhere)

But, let's say that students won't know that Dash has paying for their scolarship. A students with blockchain knowledge will look for the best project to work with, and the one that provides him the best money. That's just the definition of Dash.

Plus, those students will much more be able to separate the wheat from the chaff as they will know what they are talking about. Dash's problem nowadays is that 90 % of people and money involve just don't know how to differentiate two coins. That's how I believe that Dash would in the end get more students applying than any other cryptos.

Finally, in the case that students won't care where the money is coming from, the teacher and the university will. That's not a small deal. And by multiplying partnership we are also betting on new partnerships down the road.

If we're going to do scholarships at all, I would rather that most or all of the amount be devoted to graduate level programs, or doctorate-level research grants, and with a more direct connection to Dash-related projects.

Yes, I could meet you there, even though I still believe that other scholarship would be valid.

@teddy bear could we have some comment ?

 

[teddy bear]

Hello,

This was posted on Dash Central but will also add this here so those who are not on Dash Central can see it. Apologies for the delay.

The scope of this is really wide... Does offering this scholarship really qualify as "large national coverage"? Is it really realistic to use this as a talent pipeline for the Dash network? How many of these students who go through this program are actually going to end up working for Dash? Instead of spending $350,000 (plus potentially indefinitely renewing funds going forward) for a program where some of the students might end up working for Dash after a few years, why not just hire some top developers who already have blockchain experience, right now? I'm all for blockchain education but I'm not sure if this is a good use of Dash resources.

While the scholarship itself will get Dash in front of the high school/college student populations, it will be the Dash and ASU team that will allow for a wider coverage range. We have already assembled the sites and channels we want to contact if the proposal gets passed and have much support from ASU (including students, faculty, and administration) to make an impact.

This proposal is for Dash to partner with ASU towards creating an ecosystem of well-educated students in blockchain technology. With this partnership, the Dash network can bring students directly to Dash related projects through the research labs at ASU as well as stay in close proximity to Dash Core HQ.

We completely agree that hiring quality development talent and building out internally is important, however, we do not see that and building an ecosystem being exclusive. In fact, we see the outward facing initiatives going hand-in-hand with the internal-facing initiatives. We feel the individuals of the Dash community should contribute where they can provide the most value. ASU’s value comes from our ability to educate large amounts of people, conduct impactful research, and create pipelines for businesses to hire our graduates. With this, we created this proposal to better all parties involved by contributing to the network where we can provide the most value. Fortunately this month, the treasury funds are not put in a position where the network must decide between a proposal for hiring internally and a proposal building out the external ecosystem (with one being forced out). We would never want to put the network in such a scenario.

Agreed, but it looks more to me like $1 for Dash and $10 for crypto.



Idk, in my college experience most undergrads with scholarships (including myself) didn't think too much about wherever the scholarship came from. You're in high school or college, you search for scholarships and you apply for a ton of them. A blockchain scholarship would probably be highly sought after because of the great career opportunities down the line, but there's nothing that really ties it back to Dash. If we're going to do scholarships at all, I would rather that most or all of the amount be devoted to graduate level programs, or doctorate-level research grants, and with a more direct connection to Dash-related projects.

To touch on the scholarships, we understand that many students apply for many “general” scholarships and may not pay too much attention to any specific one. Many scholarships of this sort are associated with the name of a person and ask general questions. However, the Dash scholarship’s application process will not be “general,” but blockchain focused. This will differentiate the scholarship and create a high probability that the students applying for the scholarship will know what Dash is (either from previous knowledge or researching the night they apply). We agree with your point about graduate-level funding being important. On top of the 4 - $5,000 scholarships that will be distributed, the graduate students can get funding from working in the research labs, compensating them for working on Dash related projects.

Hope this helps! Cheers!

 

[teddy bear]

I like this but the part I am not so happy about is converting to usd. Can’t the ASU foundation figure out how to accept dash. Not trying to be rude we give them some funding I would think we could pay in dash.

That is a reasonable request; I would table this for a meeting between the Core Team and ASU that should take place sometimess in December. Certainly I would like us to have that option going forward.

 

[3dificio]

This proposal is still getting funded, right? I see the net votes have dropped below "passed" again, but only after the deadline passed. The total budget payout has been reduced though as if this proposal was rejected, i assume this is a bug

 

[TheSingleton]

This proposal is still getting funded, right? I see the net votes have dropped below "passed" again, but only after the deadline passed. The total budget payout has been reduced though as if this proposal was rejected, i assume this is a bug

Yes it should still get paid this seems to be an issue with DashCentral and by extension DashVoteTracker.